A COUNCIL probe into the state of public conveniences in Southamp-ton has revealed a situation that is far from convenient for city centre users.

For the city that bills itself as the capital of the region has only one set of public loos in the city centre.

Those toilets are situated close to the Bargate, next to the new Shopmobility centre. The nearest public loos after that are in East Park, close to Queensway.

A special scrutiny has been launched into the state of public loos throughout the city, and the first meeting - where the public was invited to give its views - was told there was a high level of dissatisfaction with current public loo provision.

Chris Elliott, the city council's marketing chief, said research had revealed that residents were becoming more and more fed-up with the state of the city's public toilets. In a survey of 1,500 city dwellers, figures showed that in 1996, 47 per cent were dissatisfied, while by 1999, that level had risen to 63.6 per cent.

And when locals were asked to list services in the order of greatest satisfaction, toilets came last out of a list of 28 services.

Anne Work of the Council For Under 8s in Southampton, said she had asked parents for their views and most people she had canvassed did not even know where to find a public loo in the city centre.

Parents complained that there were no toilets on Southampton Common, and they were forced to use toilets in shops and restaurants in the city centre.

Geoff Wilkinson and Brian Chapman of Southampton Action for Access complained that temporary toilets brought in for special events were often inaccessible to disabled people.

They said disabled people had to pay over the odds to use accessible toilets in Southampton, as they were charged up to £3 for a special key to unlock the door.

They called for a comprehensive audit of public loos, and asked to be consulted over toilet provision for special events.

Gladys Neilson, a member of the Pensioners' Forum, said elderly people were put off using public loos as they were often dirty and they felt unsafe using them.

The scrutiny panel will continue its investigation for another month. Officers and executive members responsible for public loos are due to be called to give evidence to the panel, and then a report will be published.

Members of the scrutiny panel will question the chairman of the British Toilet Association, Richard Chisnell, today, as part of their inquiries.