Hove family catch rogue diarrhoea pooer on CCTV

The family with young children in Colbourne Road, Hove, have been finding faeces up to "several times a week".

They installed £600 CCTV at the end of last year in an attempt to solve the mystery and call on the authorities to take action.

On Tuesday, the camera caught a man in the middle of public defecation, which is punishable under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

The family suspects this man may be responsible for the other incidents.

"You'll wake up and there would be poo as you are leaving the house," said the mother, who wished to remain anonymous.

"Then you'll see his token piece of toilet paper, it's like a calling card."

'It's like his calling card'

'This has been going on for years'

For two years, the family says, they would often wake up to liquid faeces in the alleyway behind their home near Seven Dials.

In September last year, the resident emailed the council's environmental enforcement and Sussex Police for help.

She told them the incidents had increased in number and feared someone was targeting their entrance.

The resident said: "It's just really upsetting to live with two children under the age of three with your back gate being the main entrance and exit.

"I bought flowers as I thought he would stop if it looked nice in the area. In fact, he just s**t on the flowers."

On some occasions, the managers of the private land, Jonathan Rolls, are called in to clean the mess.

On others, the resident cleans the faeces herself.

She said: "I'll have to text all neighbours to say 'be careful, there is loads of s**t out there'.

"Someone walked in it once, it's just disgusting."

The family suspect this is the same man who appeared in an Argus story last year.

That story showed the horrendous moment a man emptied his bowels on a Frederick Gardens wall in Brighton city centre.

"This is very specific explosive diarrhoea," the resident said.

Catching a rogue pooer 

She said they installed the CCTV as it was still happening, and caught the man on camera on Tuesday.

The new video was taken at 8.25am in the access way from Colbourne Road to the garages at the rear of Richmond Court.

It shows the man expelling explosive diarrhoea before wiping with a sheet of toilet paper and discarding it on the floor.

The exhausted mother said: "People say you shouldn't say anything about it, but what would you do if it's happening on the doorstep?

"There are various families around here, a vulnerable older lady with carers coming in around the back.

"That back alleyway is used by people in that area all the time.

"In terms of what to do about it, he needs help but I think he can't just be allowed to carry on really affecting people's lives."

What can be done?

Public defecation is punishable under Section 87 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 by a £75 fine.

A council spokesman said: "It is against the law to 'urinate or defecate' in public.

"As this incident occurred on private land, any clean-up would in the first instance be a matter for the landowner and the police.

"Our environmental enforcement team is available to advise the landowner, and has powers to investigate and enforce on their behalf when requested to do so."

The Argus asked the spokesman what the council could do to stop these acts.

The spokesman said: “Any such investigation could only be carried out if it were possible to identify the individual.

“We would need to clarify whether the individual had any medical conditions that could explain their actions, before considering whether to issue them with a Fixed Penalty Notice.”

A Sussex Police spokeswoman said: "We received a third party report about human faeces being found in an alleyway in Osmond Road, Hove on Wednesday.

"The landowner has been informed and the local PCSO for the area has contacted the informant to speak to her about it."