Mrs Swain said she was tired of the conveniences attracting "junkies" and used needles, and said the toilet block had likely been used for prostitution.

She said that women who used The Hive's casual office space for business had expressed their concerns to her about feeling unsafe if leaving the building after dark.

"There are some serious issues with junkies; some ice head tried to get into the building the other day, and we had two junkies under the portico the day before.

"You see the drug deals happening, and you can't ask them to move on.

"We've called the police and asked if they would come for a drive, but I didn't see any police cars."

Mrs Swain said she had seen a man aged about 60 walking out of the toilet, followed by a girl aged about 16 who was doing up her pants when the toilet door opened.

Kate Curtin, a tenant of The Hive, said that she found the area around the toilet block "shady" after dark and wouldn't wander around on her own.

Orange City Council spokesperson Allan Reeder said council "encourages any resident who notices criminal behaviour to contact local police".

"Police will investigate and allocate the problem the resources it deserves."

Mr Reeder said the Future City proposals for McNamara Street "are all about making the area more attractive and increasing the number of people walking through that area".

The toilet block closes at 8pm.

The toilets were originally fitted with UV fluorescent "blue" lighting, which make it difficult for drug users to inject, however they were recently replaced by energy-saving LED bulbs.

Staff are currently looking to source LEDs which produce a blue light.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:

Send us a letter to the editor using the form below ...