'Going down the pan' and a 'lack of public toilets' - what you said about rise in people defecating on Sunderland's streets

A lack of public toilets in the city centre and a rise in the number of homeless people were among the reasons they offered for the increase.

They were responding to plea by the Sunderland Business Improvement District (BID) partnership for residents to keep the city centre clean following a “very specific incident” on Tuesday.

BID added in a Facebook post: “Disappointingly we’ve seen an increase in people thinking it is absolutely acceptable to defecate or urinate in public in our city centre. This will not be tolerated.”

After reading our story, Craig Richardson Wood wrote on Facebook: “Could this coincide with a lack of available toilets? It was the case when I was out on nights out years ago and it probably still is.”

Si Mulvaney commented: “No excuses for that, but where are the public toilets located?”

Anne Bingham added: “There’s none at all in Houghton.”

Susan Cummings said: “Lack of public toilets and homelessness must be the cause. I mean, where do you go if you're living on the streets?”

Yet Rachel Elizabeth Marshall argued: “All the people blaming the lack of public toilets. But the toilets get destroyed when left open so we can’t really win, can we?”

Sue Sharp said: “Oh my God. Disgusting, would hate to see their homes.”

There were also predictably some puns among the reader comments.

Mary Smithson Hewison wrote: “Sunderland has changed drastically for the worst. It’s gone down the pan.”