The capital's biggest ever crackdown on people urinating in the street saw 12 shamed-faced revellers face magistrates after being caught red-handed in Westminster.

They were all sentenced and fined a total of £1900 by the court, with fines ranging from £50 - £250, after either being found guilty or admitting to the offence of urinating in a public place following a crackdown by Westminster City Council and the Metropolitan Police in the run up to Christmas.

Those brought before court were served a summons after urinating across various West End nightspots including Soho and Victoria .

Dr Leith Penny , Westminster City Council's strategic director for city management, said: "It is deplorable behaviour and completely unacceptable.

"I hope these court cases send a very clear signal to visitors to our area that we will not tolerate such behaviour, which is deplorable. In Westminster we provide more toilets than any other part of the capital, and there are thousands of bars, nightclubs and restaurants, all with loos people can use before they leave.

"Not only is it offensive and unhygienic to urinate in the street, it costs a small fortune to clean up the mess and get rid of the putrid smell which seeps into brickwork and paving. All this is totally unnecessary as there really is no need for anyone to be caught short."

Chief Inspector Matthew Foley from the Met Police, said: "Our officers, along with colleagues from the council and local businesses are constantly working to ensure that the West End is a safe and pleasant area for everyone to enjoy. Today's sentencing is testament to these efforts, and will hopefully act as a reminder to everyone that it is a criminal offence to urinate in a public place and it will not be tolerated."

Urination in a public place is contrary to the Byelaws for Good Rule and Government (No 2) of the City of Westminster made on 12 October 2001 under Section 235 of the Local Government Act 1972.

The council is using innovative ways to improve our service such as putting our pop up toilets in Soho to meet increased demand or using a Sat Lav scheme which allows people to text to find out where their nearest toilet is.

The City Council provides cleansing of "hot spot" locations in an attempt to combat the odours, residue and staining caused by urine, in the Leicester Square area alone the costs of this flushing activity is estimated to exceed £80,000 each year.

Walls and sides of buildings contaminated by urine have to be treated by the application of a solution containing enzymes that digest both the uric crystals and bacteria, and the solution has to be reapplied every time a site is affected, but this could be avoided if people used the facilities provided.

With more than one million visitors coming in to Westminster every day, the city has more tourists than any other city in the UK, and our public toilets are visited 15 million times a year.

Westminster has more toilets inspected and given a star rating by the British Toilet Association than any other local authority in England and Westminster invests heavily in its provisions, including launching the UK's first ever text service to help people find their nearest loo using pioneering 'SatLav' technology.

If nature calls just text "toilet" to 80097 and you will be texted back the details of your nearest loo within a matter of seconds.

In addition the council has pop up toilets - which rise from the ground over on weekend nights - in Cambridge Circus, Embankment, and Trafalgar Square.

Our open-air lavatories - the first to be installed in Britain for over a century - are also in regular use at four sites in the West End in Cambridge Circus, Soho Square, Adelaide Street and Villiers Street from 8pm until 6am on weekends.

Notes to Editors:

Latest figures reveal that an amazing 15m people visit our council conveniences each year, equivalent to three times the population of Scotland.

Sat Lav: If nature calls just text "toilet" to 80097 and you will be texted back the details of your nearest loo within a matter of seconds.

 ENDS

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