THE loo police at East Hampshire District Council want to flush out shoppers who try to get away with using their posh town centre conveniences for free. In the time-honoured British tradition, people queuing to use Petersfield's central car park facilities have been holding the door open for each other to avoid paying a 20p cover charge. But cash-strapped district councillors are ready to try anything to get a handle on the "tailgating" – or watch £27,000 go down the pan. That could mean using closed-circuit television cameras to "name and shame" the worst offenders, or even make punters pay to get out of the cubicles. Guy Stacpoole said: "I notice that there are cameras surrounding the toilets. I wonder whether something could be done by way of naming and shaming?" And Hilary Ayer added: "Why don't we charge them to get out rather than to get in?" On paper, the loos are state-of-the-art, refurbished at a cost of £138,000, and cleaned and looked after daily by attendants. They were fitted with automatic solutions for everything from soap dispensers and taps to the toilet-flushing mechanism itself. At their grand opening, a single red rose was placed on each toilet seat for first-time users, while an external, tiled wall mural provided by a local artist was also unveiled entitled "Water in service to the cycle of life". And this week councillors are keeping their legs crossed that the facilities could pick up the prestigious "loo of the year" gong from the British Toilet Association. But most of the cost of providing the high-quality service was meant to be offset by users rather than shouldered by the taxpayer. The original budget of £6,000 is set to spiral to £33,000 after income received over the first nine months fell well below projections. Elizabeth Cartwright said: "I do think we have got to find a solution for the tailgating. "I think it is quite unfortunate when we are providing a first-class service. People have got to be prepared to pay for the loos. "We need to reduce this cost on the council." In a report to cabinet members last week, East Hampshire District Council operations manager Mark Reed said vandalism problems that plagued the old loos were now minimal and feedback showed the facility was highly regarded by the community. And he told members last week: "We are very conscious of this tailgating, and it is worse when it is busy. "We are looking for solutions and we are happy to consider anything."