The deep clean programme started in April 2019, in Sunderland City centre.

The Sunderland Bid team sparked a Facebook debate on Wednesday, August 14, when they posted about an issue which is a plight in the City centre.

In the Facebook post from the Sunderland Bid team wrote: “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!

“Anyone who observes this behaviour should report it to Northumbria Police on 101. It is a Public Order offence at minimum and individuals will be charged!

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“Help us keep our city centre clean.”

The Facebook post has came after having to deal with a “very specific incident” in the city centre on Wednesday, August 14..

A spokesperson for Sunderland BID said: " The BID's post was as a result of a very specific incident which occurred yesterday. The BID, the council and a whole host of other organisations are working together to make Sunderland a cleaner, safer place to visit so this kind of behaviour is completely unacceptable.

"We have spent a lot of time and effort on cleaning up the city centre and this is something nobody should have to deal with, which is why we would ask everyone to be vigilant and to report any incidents of this nature to the BID.

"There are clearly some wider, underlying issues as to why people feel the need to behave in this way and this is also something we need to address by all working together to stop this, along with all other kinds of anti social behaviour."

A spokesperson for Northumbria Police was asked what would happen if someone was found to be defecating or urinating in the street. They said: “We do treat this as a public order offence as it can cause alarm, distress and/or harassment. People who are caught doing this can receive a summons.”