Theatre-goers will be familiar with having to dash for the loo as soon as the curtain falls before the queue stretches out of the door.

So staff at New Wimbledon Theatre were understandably flushed with pride to unveil major refurbishments to their toilets.

Ambassador Theatre Group, which runs the theatre, is spending a fair few pennies on the changes - £120,000 in total.

As part of the upgrade, new female toilets are being installed on the Dress Circle level.

"When the theatre was built, men drank more than women, so there wasn't as much need for women to go to the toilet as men," a spokesman for the theatre explained.

The new ladies' toilets are being created by re-opening a connecting room between the main theatre and the Studio. At the same time, a new toilet and shower are being installed in the New Wimbledon Studio dressing room.

The female toilets are to be completed before the start of the venue's autumn season, and the remaining toilets will be upgraded over the next few months.

Karin Gartzke, chief executive of New Wimbledon Theatre, told the Wimbledon Guardian: "In response to customer feedback, we are delighted to begin our programme of refurbishment of our toilets.

"When this magnificent theatre was built in 1910, women were not catered for in the same way as men, so we are glad to throw those old inequalities down the pan."