WEYMOUTH seafront is set to become a more pleasant area in which to spend a penny.

Three new toilet facilities will be unveiled within the next 18 months as part of a £6 million seafront regeneration programme.

The toilets will be built on the Esplanade opposite Bond Street, at the tourist information centre, the Pier Bandstand and at Greenhill Gardens.

The swish new loos will all have cubicles for the disabled and will be built to higher specifications than the minimum standard for public toilets.

They will replace the current public conveniences in these locations – including underground toilets by the seafront, which provide no access for disabled people or people with mobility problems.

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council will fund half of the project, while the remainder will come from the South West Regional Development Agency.

The total spend is yet to be decided by the council’s management committee.

Community safety spokesman Councillor Tim Munro said: “They will be state-of-the-art public conveniences for everyone to use. The toilets will be able to cope with more people.

“Over the last couple of years we have worked with the private sector for them to provide public conveniences at no cost to the tax-payer and we will continue to do so in the future.”

Toilets at the tourist information centre on the Esplanade will be built from scratch, along with a futuristic glass building to be used as a replacement centre.

It is hoped that the toilets opposite Bond Street will be replaced by toilets closer to the seafront and will be combined with a café on the promenade.

These toilets would be operated by the café’s owner.

Coun Munro added that councillors are now reviewing the borough council’s spending plan to ensure that the toilets go ahead.

“It will be great to have brand-new toilets and if members of the public look after them and report any damage that is done then we can act quicker and keep them well maintained,” he said.

The entire seafront regeneration scheme is to be completed ahead of the 2012 Olympics.

Seating areas, a new pedestrian area, Victorian-style lighting and new flowerbeds have also been agreed by councillors.