Parents are pressing for children's toilets to be provided in a popular park in Brighton.

They say drug addicts use the only lavatory in Queen's Park, a superloo with a 20p fee.

Parents have found syringes and needles there and are now demanding facilities which their children can use safely.

Jane Launchbury, of Ewart Street, who has a four-year-old child, said: "No parents or teachers I know would dream of taking a child in there.

"Even if they wanted to, the location, up a steep path some distance away from the playground, means it is practically impossible to drag a two-to-four year-old up there without an accident on the way.

"What this means is certain areas of Queen's Park have become unofficial open toilets."

The parents are suggesting simple continental-style toilets, of the hole in the ground variety, with minimal plumbing and a basic sheet metal enclosure.

Some of them are even offering to dig the holes.

They are also calling for repairs to be made to the playground equipment in the park.

Ms Launchbury, secretary of Hanover Community Forum, said the issue would be discussed at its next meeting on June 27.

Queen's Park ward councillor Jackie Lythell, who lives opposite the park, said: "All three ward councillors have been asking for children's toilets there.

"The problem goes back some years when the toilet at the top of the slope was converted to a coin-operated building. We have been told there are difficulties in providing a sewer."

A spokeswoman for Brighton and Hove City Council said no request had yet been received from people in the Queen's Park area.

She said: "There are no plans at this time to construct a new toilet facility in Queen's Park.

"There is an automatic toilet in the park, which is regularly inspected and maintained, as are all our public toilets throughout the city.

"The provision of toilets is continually under review to try to meet changing demands."