Lifting the lid on a good idea

When she was young my sister's first port of call in any restaurant was the toilets. If they didn't pass her checklist of fundamental requirements we all had to leave. I haven't asked her if she still maintains this regime almost thirty five years on but every time I have to use a public loo I think of her - an unfortunate association, I know.

If the 'Ladies' are bad, the 'Gents' are worse. I can't be the only one who dreads going into the cubicle. Increasingly it seems that public toilets are being used for target practice by people who have absolutely no sense of direction. A wet seat is the inevitable result.

I was therefore delighted to see this piece of design in a toilet in Rome's Fiumicino airport. You may not be able to stop the poor behaviour of a few people but good design can stop it spoiling the comfort of the majority.

All the seat lids are weighted so that as soon as there is no-one sitting on them they lift up. Percy is only ever pointing at the porcelain.