IT might not be the most palatable way to fertilise your fruit and veg, but allotmenteers in Mill Hill will soon be looking close to home for their compost.

Thanks to a grant from the Lottery, the Lawrence Street allotment has had a special toilet installed that will allow them to turn their own waste into so-called “humanure”.

With no running water, the allotmenteers simply cover the waste with wood chippings and in two years time the product will be ready to fertilise their fruit trees and bushes.

Allotment secretary Rosalind Morgan, 69, said: “It sits there for two years and at the end you get some compost. They advise you not to use it on lettuces and things like that.”

Although some neighbours had expressed concerns the toilet would smell, and Mrs Morgan even had to apply for planning permission to have it installed, but she said everyone is now “delighted” with their new loo.

“About 50 per cent of the people here are ladies,” she said. “It’s easy enough for the men to go and have a pee somewhere, but for the ladies it’s more difficult.

“We have families here, open days and pre-school play groups so this will make things a bit easier.”

The new loo is perhaps not the cheapest way to spend a penny, costing a staggering £10,000 to buy and install.

However, composting toilets make a significant contribution to water conservation and pollution reduction, and are ideal for places not linked into a sewage system - like the Lawrence Street allotment.

Mrs Morgan said: “It’s taken a long time to sort out - almost a year - but everybody’s delighted it’s done now.”

If you want to try out the loo, the allotment is holding an open day on August 23 from 11am.