SHOPPERS struggling to spend a penny in Farnworth because of a severe shortage of public toilets will have a welcome relief from next week.

Residents and shop owners are delighted at the news that mobile toilets are at last to be put on King Street after years of campaigning.

And this move will be closely followed by a permanent public convenience, for which a planning application has now been submitted. The lack of loos has been one of Farnworth people's biggest complaints.

It is a particular problem for those with mobility problems because the only disabled toilets are at the town hall in Market Street -- which is some distance from the majority of the shops -- and at Asda in Brackley Street.

But shoppers also feel that they should not be forced to use supermarket loos if they are not shopping there. The town centre was renovated in 1999 and the toilets near the market were replaced by pay-as-you-go igloo-style superloos, which were boycotted by shoppers and have now been removed.

Butcher Jack Morris, chairman of the town centre improvement committee, said shoppers had been without the vital amenity for far too long.

"I have heard all sorts of tales about the mobile toilets and we are all pleased that the problem is now finally being sorted out.

"Disabled people have had a very hard time. I don't know how the council got away with it for so long."

Local councillor Noel Spencer, who has supported the campaign along with MP Dr Brian Iddon, said: "This mobile toilet will be a big improvement.

"The threat from other out-of-town shopping centres is not going to go away so we have to try to keep Farnworth as viable as we can -- and that includes providing the facilities."

The new mobile loos are costing the council around £10,000.