Ulverston's public toilets will soon be accessed by contactless payments.

The Gill toilets in Ulverston could be one of the first in the region to have the state of the art facility, once cleaning costs and a cleaning rota are established.

The idea has been floated by the Mayor of Ulverston Cllr Sharon Webster. Councillor David Webster told a meeting of the town council this week that he is optimistic that toilets will be flushing again quite soon saying.

He said: "The toilets are just coin-operated now and there were problems with the coin machines jamming and people using incorrect coinage.

"We are having them refurbished and having them go contactless looks the best way.

"We know that not everyone has a contactless payment bank card with them, we know this, but we will now look to a hybrid system of the two.”

The work on the Gill toilets will also see new roofing and doors installed. Cllr Webster has a long term plan that allows the public to still be able to use a toilet when the Gill toilets are closed for construction saying.

The councillor explained: "These are the only toilets that the council-run in the town.

"Currently, the Market Hall toilets are closed, but we may take these over and look after them when ours get refurbished. We would pay for the cleaning and maintenance of those during that time.”

Contactless toilet payments have been running in the Netherlands for some years, according to the councillors.

The public toilet at the Gill currently has a 20p charge, and the toilet is open from 7am to 7pm. Most other publicly accessed toilets in the town were open during daytime hours when the businesses operated until lockdown earlier this year.