A playground pooper who wiped his hands on children’s play equipment after defecating nearby was chased off by hearty Koutu residents.

The man was spotted squatting at the Haumoana St playground in Rotorua on Sunday afternoon by an elderly resident.

Angela Wharekura said her mother-in-law was looking out the window and yelled out “what the hell is that guy doing?” after seeing him “doing poos” and wiping his hands on the equipment.

Wharekura said she ran over to the playground with her daughter and yelled at the man.

“I started taking photos and videos of him and he started to get aggressive and was walking over towards us saying, ‘I’m going to come over there and **** you up’.”

Wharekura said just as that commotion started, another resident, who was “7ft and huge”, came out of a home and yelled out to the man, “you come here mate and I will deal to you”.

She said the man quickly left after seeing the larger resident walking towards him.

Wharekura said it was typical of the neighbourhood to have one another’s backs and she was certain the defecator would not return or do it again.

She called police and spoke to another resident, who was to alert the Rotorua Lakes Council.

The Rotorua Daily Post has elected not to publish the supplied photographic evidence of the defecation.

The Haumoana St playground in Rotorua. Photo / Facebook

A police spokeswoman said police were called about 1pm after a man allegedly smeared faeces on a playground on Haumoana St.

“Police were not able to locate the alleged offender. We have requested further information from the person who made the report, so that we can conduct follow-up inquiries.”

A council spokesperson said such behaviour in a public space was “extremely disappointing” and “thankfully is very rare”.

“We have no record of this particular incident being reported to council and would encourage people to always do so to ensure we can respond as quickly as possible.”

After being contacted by the Rotorua Daily Post today about the incident, a janitorial team urgently went to the area to clean and sanitise the playground equipment, the spokesperson said.

Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.