WOMEN are demanding much more for their money from city centre toilets as the cost of spending a penny in York doubled.

The state of the public lavatories came under fire following an announcement that the charge for the ladies in Coppergate and Parliament Street will rise from 10p to 20p in July.

Men will not have to pay anything.

City tourism and retail chiefs said women would expect cleaner toilets for the higher charge, and stressed that a visit to the WC formed part of a visitors' lasting impression of the city.

Defending the increase, City of York Council said it was the first rise in ten years and would cover the cost of an improved cleaning service, bringing the charges into line with Union Terrace toilets.

Both the Coppergate and Parliament Street toilets have an attendant on duty during the day (except for Coppergate on Sunday), who will be able to provide a cleansing and change-providing service.

But Jill Drover, who was visiting York from the Isle of White, was damming about the Parliament Street toilets.

She said: "They shouldn't charge anything to go in there. They are filthy and there's no paper.

"You expect better in a big place like this. And if the men don't have to pay why should we?"

Emma Magin, 25, from South Bank, York, said: "I refuse to pay to go to the toilet. It should be free, especially if the men's are free. The ladies aren't well-maintained, and they are smelly and grubby."

Councillor Andrew Waller, executive member for environment and sustainability, said some of the toilets would remain free for those who felt strongly about paying, but that the rise was in response to complaints made about the cleanliness of ladies' toilets.

Coun Waller said: "Over the next couple of years, we want to review the location and physical appearances of these facilities. They are not in the right place and the men's toilets downstairs in Parliament Street are not helpful."

Gillian Cruddas, of York Tourism Bureau, said the bureau had received complaints about the state of the toilets and stressed that a visit to a public toilet formed a very important part of the visitor experience. She said: "Cleanliness in ladies' and gents' public toilets is crucially important and people are probably prepared to pay a bit extra for that.

"We support the increase on the understanding it will make a positive difference on the state of the toilets."

Diana Goulding, of the Coppergate Centre, said: "Customers are usually willing to pay for a quality service and hopefully that's what they will receive from the toilets in the future."

We asked people who had joined the lengthy queue outside the Parliament Street ladies' toilets - where four loos were out of order - what they thought of the rising cost of spending a penny

Lisa Anderson, of Hull, said: "I felt they were really mucky. There's absolutely loads out of order. York is great, then you come to these toilets and it's like a culture shock. Hull gets such a bad name as a place but our public toilets are so much cleaner and you don't have to pay either. The one I used didn't even flush."

Sammy Terry, 11, of Strensall, said: "I think they are slightly smelly and not as clean as you would expect them to be. 20p is ridiculous just to go into a toilet. It's tight that men don't have to pay."

Karen Dunckley, 29, of Copmanthorpe, York, said: "I wouldn't pay - I use M&S. I don't think there are enough public toilets in York but they shouldn't be 20p a go. It is too much. It should be free for both men and women."

Louise Rafton, 24, of Easingwold, said: "I try not to use them. They are normally really dirty, so if I go into a pub or restaurant I try to use the loos there. 20p is quite a lot, especially if you have to queue for a long time."

Updated: 08:44 Friday, June 03, 2005