Fed up with drunks using historic buildings as a toilet, Cheshire West and Chester Council and CH1ChesterBID are fighting back.
Walls have been coated with liquid-repellent paint which causes “splash-back”, so anyone who urinates against them will get a rather unexpected soaking.
The Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, Councillor Karen Shore said: “Most partygoers will enjoy the festive season and respect our beautiful city. However a minority are damaging historic structures by using the city centre as a public toilet.
“The liquid-repelling paint has been applied in secret location across the city. Anyone spending a penny in public this festive season may get more than they bargained for.
“We’ve produced an animation featuring a ‘creature’ that pees in dark corners with no respect for our city to promote our campaign and will be using social media to spread the word that Chester’s walls pee-back.”
Nick White, City Centre Manager said: “We’re pleased to be supporting this initiative in partnership with Cheshire West and Chester Council. It’s certainly a novel approach to the issue! We’re always willing to try new ideas, particularly if they can help us to address an issue that causes city visitors and businesses concerns like public urination. Together with our members and partners we’re aiming to create a city centre environment that is both welcoming and appealing and we hope this campaign will have a positive impact over the Christmas period.”
Urinating in public is a criminal offence and the Council will prosecute individuals caught in the act. The Council’s team of CCTV operators can direct police officers to offenders in seconds. In September this year, three offenders were taken to court and received fines of over £1,000 between them.
The campaign film can be seen at www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/peeback
