Defecating in sinks, riding bicycles – the reasons people have been banned from libraries revealed

One individual has receieved a lifetime ban from Endeavour House. Picture: ARCHANT (Image: Archant)

Figures published under Freedom of Information laws showed there were 167 people banned from libraries in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 financial years.

The numbers included:

- 68 instances of verbal abuse or intimidation of staff or customers

Defeacting in sinks and riding bicycles were among the more unusual reasons for people being banned from libraries in Suffolk. Picture: RACHEL EDGE (Image: Archant)

- 15 physical assaults on staff or customers

- 23 instances of causing damage to items such as books or furniture

- 38 'general disruption' issues, such as listening to loud music, shouting or swearing

- Four thefts

- Eight occasions of riding bikes in a library

- One instance of someone defecating in a sink

- Four incidents of viewing or printing inappropriate images on public computers

- Five drunken behaviour reports

- One case of racial abuse

Elsewhere, one member of the public received a lifetime ban from the council's Endeavour House headquarters in Ipswich for threatening verbal behaviour to staff.

The council said the individual had not approached the building since the ban, and on numerous occasions the council had to call police before it had to take action in banning them.

In January this year, an individual was banned for at least 24 months from all recycling centres and waste management facilities for making direct threats of violence to a member of staff at Foxhall Recycling Centre near Ipswich.

A spokesman from Suffolk County Council said: "Suffolk County Council takes the issue of banning anyone from our buildings very seriously and this is always a last resort.

"However, our primary concern must be for the safety of our staff and other members of the public who may be present."

Of the 167 incidents reported at libraries, 78 happened in 2017/18 while 89 took place last year.