The public conveniences are among seven attended facilities across the Borders which, until Monday, levied the charge on all users.

The staff at the toilets will now be expected to carry out a range of other duties, including clearing up litter, ground maintenance and patrolling for dog fouling.

In Selkirk, the attendants will also have responsibility for regularly cleaning and checking the town's other remaining public toilet at Dovecot.

However, the list of new duties has still to be agreed with unions representing the staff.

The decision to abandon all charges for public toilets was taken at last week's meeting of Scottish Borders Council.

It heard from environmental services director John Byford that visitors tended to seek out and use the free, unattended facilities and that these gave a bad impression of the Borders.

Consumer resistance to the seven manned facilities was also reflected in income which had dropped from £70,800 in 2006/07 to £67,300 in 2007/08 – a fall of 5 per cent and equating to 11,000 less "visits". The revenue figures for the individual units was not given.

The meeting was also told that attendants were hardly run off their feet, especially in the winter. On one day in February this year, the toilets in Peebles were used by just six customers.

Yet the annual cost to the council of employing these personnel is £180,000 a year. "This part of the service is making a substantial loss," said Mr Byford.

At the same time, councillors heard the unmanned toilets were often neglected, dirty and the target of vandals.

Thus, Councillor Len Wyse, who is SBC's executive member for environmental services, announced the attendants would be redeployed.

"I can give a guarantee that the attendants will visit all toilets in our principal towns at least once an hour seven days a week to clean them up and combat vandalism.

"If the Western Highlands is known as the home of the Wee Free, the Borders will, from this week, be dubbed the home of the free wee."

Mr Byford said he would consider a suggestion from Councillor Nicholas Watson that a secure means should be arranged for satisfied members of the public to leave a voluntary cash donation at all public toilets, thus bringing in some income to the council. Mr Byford will prepare a report for September on a major refurbishment programme because several of the region's facilities required to be upgraded to comply with disability discrimination legislation, while warm water and hand drying facilities should be incorporated where practicable. His report will include a survey of usage to be carried out this summer.

Selkirk councillor Kenneth Gunn put in a plea for the unmanned toilets at the junction of Bank Street and St John Street in Galashiels, to be a priority for refurbishment. "They are an absolute disgrace," he added.