LOOK after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves is an age-old economic axiom that is about to be put to good use by a South Lakeland parish.

In a battle to raise those pounds, Coniston Parish Council is asking villagers to collect 1,000,000 pennies or £10,000 to pay for new disabled facilites at the village's public loos.

"I'm old enough to remember when going to the toilet was spending a penny' so the idea came from there," explained parish clerk Chas Sargeant, adding that the inspiration was probably helped by a bit of beer and by spotting coppers littering pavements and gutters.

Mr Sargeant said that parish councillor John Stoddart had tried in vain to get public grants to find the money to create a disabled facility at The Bridge conveniences in order for the building to comply with the requirements of the new Disabilty Discrimination Act.

But grant givers were reluctant to part with funds because the building is owned by a public authority - South Lakeland District Council - leaving the parish council as the loos' managers to come up with the money.

"I thought we should start small and worked out that we needed one million pennies, ie. £10,000, to get the disabled facility in the toilet," explained Mr Sargeant.

He duly dispatched publicity about the Spend-a-Penny' campaign last week via Coniston's community e-mail and pasting posters around the village pressing residents to save their pennies for the parish.

Shops and restaurants throughout the community that was once a copper-mining centre responded by extracting coppers from their customers to deposit in new collection tins.

Meanwhile, some residents have earmarked their penny jars for the loos. Already Mr Sargeant has banked 1,000p from the Hills Garage.

Coun Stoddart said: "I think it's a great idea and I wish we had thought of it a long time ago! It seems like it's the last ditched stand to get this money!"

The parish council took on responsibility for The Bridge loos from South Lakeland District Council two years ago after the authority shut them down just before it began a cost-cutting programme to flush half the district's public toilets from its books.

Parish councillors managed to resurrect the conveniences by raising the amount they claimed from the council tax after consultations with the community showed that people were willing to pay more to save the loos for serving tourists and residents alike.

Anyone with pennies to spare for the appeal can contact Chas Sargeant on 015394-41991.