Meet cleaner Pearl Lecheminant - responsible for the lav-liest public loo in the country.

Pearl, 69, is on duty seven days a week at the toilets on the Western Esplanade in Hove.

After scouring the country for the best-kept public toilets, judges decided that Brighton and Hove is the second best place in Britain to spend a penny.

Only the Scottish Highlands ranks higher in the British premier league of local authority toilets.

Some 27 lavatories have been singledout for praise in the 2007 Loo of the Year Awards, run by the British Toilet Association.

The Western Esplanade facilities have been awarded five stars for their cleanliness, comfort and the range of facilities on offer.

The lavatories are kept spotlessly clean by attendant Pearl Lecheminant.

Mrs Lecheminant had no idea why she was picked for the award.

She said: "I just do what you normally do at home. I put out two pots of flowers in the ladies loos because I think with all the white tiles you need a bit of colour.

"I also put a dog bowl of water out, which all the owners love. They come and ask me where it is if I forget to put it out.

"I really enjoy the job. I get to meet lots of people and I know everyone who comes down here."

Both toilets have baby changing facilities and little loos for children to use.

Nursing mums have their own quiet room with rocking chairs where they can sit and feed their babies in privacy.

Seventeen other loos received four stars.

They included the toilets in Blakers Park near Fiveways, Brighton, which were built last year at a cost of £100,000.

The new facility, which replaced an old-fashioned block which closed in 1993, now has a child-friendly loo and one for general use.

It was built after a campaign by action group Friends of Blakers Park, who complained that parents had been forced to let their children go into bushes to relieve themselves.

Toilets at the Ovingdean Undercliff and the Queen's Park play area improved their scores after being repainted earlier this year.

All the city's toilets are managed by contractors Wetton Cleaning Services.

This year the council's improvements programme has seen all signage upgraded to meet RNIB guidelines, including the introduction of tactile signs with Braille.

New equipment has been installed and sites are being updated to bring them in line with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.