LONDON, Feb 3: A high-tech version of the French pissoir will soon be popping up on British streets in the hope of stopping drunken men relieving themselves in darkened doorways, according to a published report on Sunday.

The report in The Sunday Times said the UriLift is a Dutch invention that has proved so successful at reducing “indiscriminate urination” that officials in London, Manchester and Bristol are set to install them.

During the day the UriLift remains out of sight under the pavement, resembling nothing more that a manhole cover. But in the evening, as the pubs shut and full-bladdered drinkers pour on to the streets, the UriLift literally springs into action.

Operated by the police through a remote control handset, the hydraulically powered cylindrical urinal emerges from the pavement in seconds. Once in place, up to three men can use it simultaneously.

Like the continental pissoir the UriLift has no doors, leaving users’ backs exposed to passersby.—dpa