The design aimed to change the image of the dark, smelly public loo

The loo in Brockenhurst, Hampshire is in the running for the prime minister's Better Public Building Award.

Brookley Road public conveniences consist of a steel frame in which the roof appears to hover above the walls.

Parish councillors have declined an invitation to attend a plaque presentation ceremony at the toilets.

A row began between Brockenhurst's parish council and the district authority soon after the �157,000 public convenience was opened in August 2003.

In a letter sent to New Forest District Council (NFDC), Nina Ball, chairman of the parish council, described the toilets as "totally unacceptable to the village of Brockenhurst" and not "in sympathy with the surrounds".

She also said the views of the villagers and parish councillors had been "ignored".

But she added that the parish council did not query the new toilet's architectural value.

The loo is among 17 publicly funded building schemes which have been shortlisted.

A plaque will be presented to the chairman of the district council by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) on 7 September.