A man who sparked disgust after being spotted on CCTV defecating on the steps of Chard Guildhall has come forward and apologised.

The night-time reveller left a 'disgusting' mess which had to be cleared up by a Guildhall caretaker.

Local police released the CCTV image after reviewing the three-minute footage in a bid to identify the culprit.

Last week, beat manager PC Paul Thomas said: "I have seen some pretty disgusting things during my career, but this is right at the top."

After spotting himself on the front page of The News, local officers say a 31-year-old male has made contact and held his hands up.

PC Thomas said: “The male identified himself straight away from the article and was knocking on the police station's door at 7.30 the following morning.

"He told me how regretful he was about what had happened and he wanted to do anything that he could to make amends.

"He has owned up to the incident and is very embarrassed and regretful about the whole incident. He stated that it was not something that he has ever done before, nor will do again.

"He was in a situation where the public toilets were closed and in his own words he had no choice.

"He has been advised in relation to his behaviour and he will be attending the Guildhall to apologise personally to the staff that had to clean up the mess."