We’ve all been there – nature unexpectedly calls when you are in the great outdoors and you quickly take a discreet pee.

A man in Ohio was apparently caught in this very predicament today and promptly relieved himself.

However, the gentleman in question was a Secret Service agent in charge of protecting the POTUS and seemingly took a leak in full view of Barack Obama and his hundreds of supporters, who were just yards away.

The Secret Service employee, who was standing to the side of the stage where Obama was addressing his Cincinnati fans, was snapped seemingly mid-flow by a photographer from Politico.

Unsurprisingly, as soon as the photograph was posted to Twitter it became a sensation. Some commentators cheekily suggested that the man was especially foolish for peeing uphill.

The Secret Service confirmed that the man was their employee and swiftly added that he was not urinating.

The agency claimed that their employee was simply following protocol and was facing away from the President to look out for any threats that may be headed his way.

Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan told Politico: 'There is no accuracy to the reporting associated with this photo thus far.'

Judging from the photo at the centre of the storm, the agent could have convincingly claimed that he was texting or playing a game of Angry Birds when the incriminating picture was taken.

The embarrassing incident happened while Obama continued his campaign in the swing state of Ohio.

(Read by Brian Salter. Brian Salter is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

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(Agencies)