THE Scottish Tories have blamed the Government for a public peeing pandemic after urination crimes in Scotland nearly quadrupled in the space of a year.

The official statistics bulletin published on Thursday revealed a whopping 392 per cent increase in the number of crimes recorded as “urinating, etc.”

In February 2022, police recorded 118 urination offences, compared to just 24 in February 2021.

Tory Shadow Justice Secretary Jamie Greene said the rise was “alarmingly high”. 

He added: It is deeply disappointing that so many individuals feel it is appropriate to spoil our communities in this way.

“However, it is clear that the SNP’s centralisation of our police force which has resulted in a reduction in officers on our streets means these sort of crimes are increasingly going unpunished.

“The SNP’s savage cuts to our local councils in recent years means our local authorities have had to close many public conveniences across Scotland.

“Innovative examples that have been used in London such as an app to show where toilets are open, shows these problems of public urination can be tackled, if resources are given by Governments to councils to find solutions.”

Scot Lib Dem justice spokesperson Liam McArthur called on the police to do more to clamp down on the perpetrators. 

He said: "Anti-social behaviour like this is a health hazard and a blight on communities.

"The lockdowns were always going to change the types of crime recorded but it's disappointing to see that this disgusting behaviour has rebounded back to pre-pandemic levels.

"Police Scotland need to clamp down on this behaviour and be given the resources to so."

While the figures don’t explicitly detail why there’s been such a divergence between this year and last, it’s likely at least partly because the country was still in lockdown last February, with a stay at home order in place, and most non-essential retail and hospitality closed.

The figures for last month are down on pre-pandemic levels. In February 2020 there were 140 crimes recorded as urinating, etc, around 16 per cent higher than February 2022.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The 392 per cent comparison is against the month of February 2021 when a lockdown was in effect and the night-time economy was shut down.

“In 2020-21 public order and safety spending in Scotland was £3.1bn. On a per capita basis, that means spending in Scotland was 11 per cent higher than in England and 7 per cent higher than in Wales. Alongside a total budget for policing in 2022-23 of almost £1.4 billion, we have delivered on our commitment to real terms protection of the policing resource budget. 

“It’s an investment that supports delivery of the Joint Policing Strategy to meet changing demands and strengthen support for our communities. The fact is that despite continued UK Government real terms cuts to Scotland’s resource budget, we have treated local government very fairly.”

The maximum fine someone caught urinating is £500.