Looking into loos ahead of Euro 2012 soccer

WARSAW (Reuters) - Patrols of two, wearing white overalls, are boldly entering toilets across Poland to check whether the country is loo-ready for the 2012 EURO soccer championships.

Lots of loos pass the test, they say, but others -- particularly those that date back to pre-1989 Communist days -- are less enticing.

The Toaleta2012.pl project, organized by a company manufacturing toilet equipment, aims to encourage ordinary Poles to join the patrols.

The project is looking ahead to 2012 when thousands of fans will come to Poland and Ukraine for the European Soccer Championships.

So far the patrols have visited 200 toilets in Poland's six major cities and have conducted a survey among foreign tourists, which showed hotels and airports provide good quality toilets, while railway and bus stations lag behind.

The Dziennik Gazeta Prawna newspaper commented drily that the country's toilets were, however, still better prepared for the championship than its soccer players -- who failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

(Reporting by Kuba Jaworowski; Editing by Steve Addison)