Temporary street urinals, new by-laws and polite notices are all possible solutions being discussed to stop late night revellers in Shrewsbury using the town as a toilet.
The issue was raised at a recent Pub Watch meeting, attended by landlords, councillors, police and town centre residents. The idea of temporary street urinals, which would be placed in locations around the town for people to use and then removed the day after, was discussed, as well as new by-laws which could mean fines for people who are caught urinating in the street.
Richard Goodchild, from Pub Watch, said: “A similar idea was tried in Wrexham and has apparently been successful in reducing the problem.”
But the most popular solution was to ask pub licensees to display signs asking people to use the toilets in the pub before leaving.
Mr Goodchild said: “Councillor Judith Williams said she would design the notice and talk further with the council. The Pub Watch members will all support the idea and display the poster.”
The problem of people urinating in doorways and streets has become worse, according to Dr Alan Shrank, a member of the Shrewsbury Town Centre Residents’ Association, due to the extended opening hours of bars, clubs and pubs.
Dr Shrank said: “Youngsters just don’t seem to care about where they urinate.
“I don’t see why everybody can’t just display a notice on pub doors. I don’t really think that police punishment is the way to deal with this issue successfully.”
Borough councillor Tony Durnell was at the meeting on January 17. He said: “The problem is that all the public toilets are locked up to prevent anti-social behaviour at night. The idea of getting in portable loos is an interesting one but they would have to be unenclosed urinals to prevent any problems and there is also the cost and location issues.”
Maria Hawkaluk, police spokesperson, said: “It is a public order offence to urinate in public and people will have action taken against them if they do it. We support any initiative to tackle this problem.”