Councillor issues warning to pranksters who put washing up liquid in Exchange Square fountain

A local councillor has issued a grave warning to those responsible for putting washing up liquid in the Exchange Square fountain, a prank that left the area overflowing with suds and bubbles. 

Last night, photos and videos were posted onto social media that showed the city centre fountain exploding with bubbles and leaving the area sodden with soapy footprints. 

Keith Andrew, who was the first to share photos of the timeless prank, wrote: “Oh Manchester, never change. Somebody put washing up liquid in the Exchange Square fountain again.”

However, while many were able to see the bubbles as a bit of harmless fun – and a great opportunity to finally give the fountain and it’s surrounding footpath a good clean – others weren’t too impressed and slammed the prank as childish vandalism. 

One social media user wrote: “A stupid, childish thing to do. Animals and birds use that… Grow up.” Similarly, another noted: “This is exactly why the council give up and just put concrete over everything. Don’t blame ’em.”

And joining them, a local councillor has since spoken out to condemn those responsible for the prank, and has vowed to use nearby CCTV to identify them and make them face the consequences of their actions.

Councillor Pat Karney told the Manchester Evening News: “What we will do is check our CCTV, we have three cameras in that square and so we’ll check them. This is vandalism.

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“It’s not even funny. It’s just letting Manchester down. The fountain is a nice attraction. We’ll look at the CCTV today and catch anyone, we’ll get them in court and we will shame them about this activity.”

He then added: “We will prosecute, we’re not messing about.

“The warning is, if you vandalise the fountains and spoil the enjoyment or everybody else in Manchester, particularly in the nice weather, we will hopefully get you up in front of the courts.”

While it initially seems like harmless fun, the act of soaping up a fountain can result in expensive cleanup and have a lasting impact on the fountain. Council money and budget is typically used to drain and clean fountains after they’ve fallen victim to the prank.