Staff at the Belfast Benefit Centre have been caught spitting out of windows and throwing objects to the ground outside, with liquid hitting a member of the public on the street below.

The third floor men's toilets at the Plaza Building on Chichester Street were also closed until further notice in May after vandalism, understood to include the smearing of excrement on walls.

The incident in the men's toilets is a repeat of one reported in the Sunday World two years ago, according to a source within the building.

At that time it was reported that someone was soiling the walls with excrement in various toilets during the weekends.

An internal email from May 22 seen by the Belfast Telegraph said that an incident "occurred at lunchtime where objects have been thrown out of one of our windows at the front of the building".

Following an investigation, it "also materialised that staff have been spitting out of windows too".

The email referenced a previous incident in which "liquid was thrown from one of the windows and hit a member of the public".

Senior managers are looking at ways of addressing unsociable behaviour, with staff being reminded that such matters are disciplinary offences.

A further internal email, from May 17, referenced the closure of the third floor men's toilets in the Plaza Building. It said that "certain staff members are intent on vandalising them, to the detriment and inconvenience of other staff members".

The email also asked staff to remain vigilant when using the toilets, having "long since given up on appealing to the better nature" of the individuals responsible. A staff member who did not wish to be named said: "It's disgusting. It makes you wonder what kind of people you work with.

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"This isn't the first time something like this has happened and something needs to be done."

The Department for Communities did not respond to a request for comment.

Belfast Telegraph