Academics' 12,000-mile toilet trip

The study will compare toilet provision in the UK and Japan

Academics from Bristol are to travel 6,000 miles to Japan to study the country's public toilets.

Staff at the University of the West of England (UWE) are teaming up with their Asian counterparts to rethink the design of lavatories.

Among the subjects they examine on the study tour will be public attitudes towards new toilet technologies within different cultures.

Professor Clara Greed said Japanese toilets were "light years ahead".

Prof Greed said: "This project will help to raise the profile of this important but often overlooked planning issue."

The project is funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Global Opportunities Fund.

It includes research into urban design and regeneration.