Tourists caught urinating in the street in Florence have been hit with fines of up to 10,000 euros (£8,750) each as Italy vows to crack down on anti-social behaviour by visitors this summer.

The unusually hefty fines were handed out to an 18-year-old Danish woman and a young Tunisian man who were spotted relieving themselves in a 14th century loggia full of ancient statues in Piazza della Signoria, right outside the city’s Renaissance town hall.

The Danish teenager was on a school trip to Florence when she was caught by local police at 2.30am earlier this week, while the Tunisian man, who lives in Padua in northern Italy, did the same thing in the same place on a different occasion.

Both were accused of offending public decency and face a fine of between 5,000 and 10,000 euros, with the exact figure to be decided by Florence’s chief of police.

“It’s not a new fine, it has been on the statute books for some years, but luckily we only have to enforce it rarely,” a spokesman for Florence city council told The Telegraph.

“This is about ensuring that tourists treat Florence in a proper manner and don’t engage in anti-social behaviour, like having sex in public or playing ball games in front of historic monuments.”