Police take to streets with the 'urinator'

Revellers caught relieving themselves in public in a West Yorkshire town will be told to clean up their own mess with a new device nicknamed the "urinator".

Police have taken to the streets of Pontefract with the equipment after complaints from business owners about people urinating in shop doorways.

Anyone who refuses to use the device, a pressure washer and brush, faces prosecution or an £80 fine. Twelve people were made to use the device during a week-long trial period.



Insp Richard Sullivan, of the Pontefract and Knottingley neighbourhood policing team, said: "We've had a lot of reports from members of the public and local businesses concerning individuals using shop doorways as an open toilet.

"This behaviour is absolutely disgusting and totally unnecessary when you consider there are plenty of venues offering free toilet facilities within the town centre."

Mr Sullivan added: "It is hoped that embarrassing people into cleaning up their own mess will cause them to realise what shop owners would have to do in the morning before they open their stores."