The iconic Westoe Netty, made famous by South Shields artist Bob Olley's 1972 painting, was initially set up as an exhibition piece – but some visitors are spending more than just their time in it.

Now it is being relocated within the museum so it can be plumbed in and used as a working toilet once more.

Artist Bob Olley said: "It's a never-ending story with this toilet – you could say they've had to give in to pee-er pressure.

"It's the next episode in its journey I suppose – the person who is the first to use it should win a prize."

The gent's public loo was built in Westoe, South Shields, around 1890.

There was nothing spectacular about the convenience but once it was immortalised in Mr Olley's painting, it became a cultural symbol of the area.

It depicted men in flat caps - thought to be Westoe Colliery workers -standing shoulder to shoulder at a urinal next to a small child – with a humorously unfortunate outcome.

A group of Bob's pals took down the netty before it was demolished around 1996.

It was stored in a shipyard in Hebburn until it was donated to Beamish Museum by South Tyneside Council a year later.

A spokeswoman for the museum in Stanley, County Durham, said: "It is being moved to a different part of Beamish.

"The problem is that it was originally put up as an exhibit, however some of our guests, and I suppose they must be males, are using it as a real toilet.

"Where it stands now it can't be plumbed in, so we're having to move it to somewhere it can be."