Restaurants, pubs and other businesses are set to open their toilet facilities so members of the public can spend a penny.

The Community Toilet Scheme is free of charge and there will be no need to make a purchase, as the district council will pay them a fee.

Street signs and window stickers will be put in place to highlight establishments taking part in the initiative, and council staff will make regular inspections to ensure the toilets are kept clean and well-maintained.

A 12-month pilot scheme for the city centre has been approved by the council’s public realm committee, starting later this year with a £3,000 budget. If successful it may be rolled out to other parts of the district.

Cllr Allison Wren, the committee’s vice-chair and lead councillor for public conveniences, said: “I am hoping for a good response from our local businesses to the trial.

“Not only will they receive an annual fee, but providing community toilets will enhance their reputation as it is a public-spirited thing to do. It will be greatly appreciated by residents and visitors.”

The council recently closed ageing public conveniences at Spicer Street and Verulamium Park because of anti-social incidents and a lack of modern baby-changing and disabled facilities.

Cllr Wren added: “The pilot will partly focus on providing superior community toilets near the closed facilities.

“One advantage of having toilets within busy buildings like restaurants or pubs is that there is no opportunity for the sort of antisocial activity that sometimes happens at isolated toilet blocks.

“We will only include businesses that can provide facilities for all needs, including less able people, in the pilot.

“There will be a cost to our hard-pressed budget for this innovative scheme, but it will be much less than the cost of refurbishing out-of-date facilities or building new ones. We will evaluate the reaction of the public and businesses to the trial before deciding whether to extend the scheme to other areas.”