Constable Paul Barker and Sergeant Sally Slingsby outside Colac’s Hesse Street Comfort Station toilet block.

POLICE have urged people to report public drug use after discovering two men injecting drugs in a Colac toilet block.

Police have arrested and charged two Colac men who were “shooting up” inside Hesse Street’s toilets.

Leading Senior Constable Lisa Hill said police received an anonymous report of two men acting suspiciously in the area.

Sen Const Hill said police went to the public toilets to find the two men, 26 and 28, injecting drugs.

She said police charged the men with drug possession and use offences, and bailed them to appear at Colac Magistrate’s Court.

Sen Const Hill urged more people to follow the lead of the anonymous reporter.

“They’ve called us because they were acting suspiciously – because they don’t have to get involved, certainly appreciate when they do,” she said.

“It’s certainly the city-type thing – it’s quite unusual for Colac,” Sen Const Hill said.

The incident happened just before 8pm on Friday, which was almost two hours after the toilets were scheduled to close.

Colac Otway Shire Council manages the toilets and infrastructure and services manager Neil Allen said the toilets “occasionally” stayed open later than 6pm for cleaning and public convenience.

But Mr Allen said the incident involved bigger issues than the time it happened.

“People tend to use the toilets right up to lock-up time, so as a matter of convenience council does not strictly enforce closing times,” he said.

“Council will assess whether it is appropriate to be stricter with scheduled closing times given the recent report of anti-social behaviour.

“Although we do not perceive that the closing time was especially relevant to the occurrence of this particular incident.

“It is disappointing that people are using public facilities for anti-social behaviour, and we encourage anybody who sees suspicious activity, whether on council property, private land or in public spaces, to report it to police.”

The toilet block is next door to Colac Kanyana Club, a senior citizens’ group.

Club member and former president Vin Berry said he was concerned about the incident but he said the group wasn’t intimidated.

“We don’t like it happening of course but we can’t do much about it,” Mr Berry said.

“It is a bit of a problem, it would be better if it wasn’t happening but I don’t think it interferes with us because we aren’t generally around at night,” he said.

Tags: Drugs, Health, Police and Emergencies