Ratepayer-owned public toilets are increasingly being vandalised and the culprits getting away scot-free.

That was the message delivered to councillors at Wednesday’s full meeting of the Central Otago District Council in a quarterly performance and business report.

Risk and procurement manager Amelia Lines said 10 incidents of vandalism were reported across October, November and December - double the number reported in the previous quarter.

Toilets in and around Alexandra bore the brunt of abuse, with six incidents of damage reported at facilities at Pioneer Park, Weatherall Creek, the boat ramp, and Riverside Park.

Meanwhile, Cromwell’s Alpha St and Murray Tce toilets were each targeted once, along with toilets in Clyde’s Lodge Ln.

Damage included a cistern and toilet bowl, soap dispensers and toilet roll dispensers “smashed”, a door frame “vandalised”, and taps “kicked and bent” and left "unusable", the report said.

Amelia described the upwards trend as “disappointing”.

“Every time we have incidents like that it does cost council and therefore the ratepayers,” she said.

The damage from a deliberately-lit fire at a public toilet in Alexandra, June 2025. Image: Supplied

In response to questions from councillors, facilities manager Garreth Robinson said there had been no success to date in holding offenders to account.

“It’s really hard to prosecute,” he said.

“We can’t film inside toilets.”

He said technology was being used, with CCTV often positioned outside facilities and a “sound modulator” installed inside to capture noises such as “bashing”, indicating damage may be occurring.

However, without catching someone “in the act”, that evidence was not enough.

“It’s still not conclusive,” he said.

Garreth said damage often occurred at night and was most commonly caused by “bored teenagers” rather than “malicious behaviour”.

He said locking facilities overnight could help reduce the risk.

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