The paint that ‘pees back’ at drunk partygoers

By Jacob Phillips, Local Democracy Reporter

A Central London council has come up with an interesting way of deterring drunk partygoers from peeing over the city this Christmas – paint which sprays their own urine back at them.

Westminster City council has said it is “pee back time” and has put the paint up in Soho.

People could also be fined if they are caught peeing in the popular streets, under a new campaign announced by the council.

The “Don’t Pee Off Soho” campaign is set to clear up the streets of the famous area after residents complained it was being used as an “al fresco loo,” with people even peeing through letterboxes.

The council is having to spend £950,000 a year cleaning up after people peeing, after a spike in incidents since lockdown measures were lifted.

Soho Society chairman Tim Lord said: “There are hundreds of drunk people who meet at pubs in Soho.

“It’s extraordinary we don’t have more public toilets in Soho. In Houston Street residents just get people urinating on their doors. It’s awful.”

One Soho trader was previously forced to clear up human faeces and used condoms twice a day as so many people went to the loo next to his market stall.

In 2021, Robin Smith, who runs Soho Dairy in Berwick Street Market, had to wash down the street near his stall every morning as it was covered in human excrement.

He said: “Every morning you have to stand in a puddle of p***. The stench is all around you.

“We get used to it in summer because it’s become so normal. It’s unfortunate to the extreme. It’s an al fresco loo.”

The paint is now in Soho, and five further areas in the borough are set to be painted with anti-pee paint in the new year.

Westminster City Council deputy leader Aicha Less said: “Residents and businesses are fed up.

“It’s finally pee-back time and we’re taking action to stop people using alleyways or doorways as a toilet.”

Pictured top: Shaftesbury Avenue (Picture: Google Street View)