POLICE are examining CCTV footage in a bid to identify a man who defecated and urinated in a communal area of a block of council flats in Swindon. He was caught on camera in the building after performing the unsavoury act in the laundry room at Hatherleigh Court in Park North.

The incident has been described as abhorrent by police. The man fled carrying clothes he had stolen.

Resident Hannah Day challenged the man after she heard a noise in the drying room next to her flat. The 27-year-old single mum said: "I found a kid coming out of our drying room. I asked him what he was doing, and he just mumbled.

"I realised that he had something under his jumper and I called for my boyfriend. The kid just ran, and a pyjama top fell out from his jumper."

She then went into the drying room and found urine and faeces in a corner.

"He looked like he was between 17 or 22, and he was wearing a blue fleece and tracksuit bottoms."

Hannah said problems with young vandals getting into the block were getting worse.

She said: "The tenants have been complaining because young kids are getting in and vandalising the building.

"My washing has been going missing from the drying room on the landing. These people are worse than animals. They have no respect for anybody.

"There's graffiti downstairs on the walls, and in the foyer area there were some chairs for the residents, and they have been nicked. There are CCTV cameras in the building so I don't know why people haven't been caught."

Other residents at the block of flats, who did not want to be identified, said they were not surprised by the incident.

One said: "I've seen urine on the stairs before. It's disgusting." Another said that people urinated and defecated in the lift.

Police spokeswoman Alvina Kumar said: "We are making enquiries. There is no need and no excuse for such abhorrent actions."

She urged anyone with information about the man's identity to contact Swindon police on 01793 528111 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

David Andrew