Lincolnshire Police investigating a number of drink spiking reports

Lincolnshire Police have confirmed how they are aiming to tackle drink spiking through Operation Vicinity.

Lincolnshire Police's Chief Insp Phil Baker said:

“We are investigating eight reports so far this month of drink spiking, none of which involve spiking by injection. Whilst these are numbers are relatively low, we know that some incidents may go unreported and we urge anyone who suspects they may have been spiked to call us. One incident of this abhorrent crime is one incident too many and we would like to be clear that it carries a prison sentence of up to ten years.

“We work closely with our bars, clubs and partners in Lincolnshire to make the venues as safe as possible and many of them operate the ‘Ask for Angela’ scheme. If you feel intimidated, uneasy, harassed or uncomfortable because of someone in their venue, you can ask at the bar for Angela and they have protocols in place to address the situation and keep you safe. If you have concerns or suspicions about individuals or activity in any Lincolnshire venue, call us on 101 or 999 if it’s an emergency.”

A 35-year-old man who was arrested in the early hours of Friday morning has been released with no further action. Substances in his possession were not illegal and would not have an incapacitating effect.

Meanwhile Nottinghamshire Police said they were investigating a total of 15 separate incidents of young women and men being spiked with "something sharp" in less than a month.

The reports follow other "spiking" incidents in several parts of the country, including in Exeter, and in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Lincolnshire's police and crime commissioner Marc Jones said:

"We cannot accept people being unsafe when they go out with friends for a drink.

"This arrest should send a huge signal to those would-be criminals who look to prey on our community in this despicable way."

Meanwhile, Nottinghamshire Police said they had received three new reports in the last 24 hours of being "spiked with a needle", taking the total of such incidents under investigation to 15.

They said a number of the victims reported being spiked by some sort of injection and have reported effects "consistent with a substance being administered".

Fourteen women and one man have reported being spiked with a sharp object.

The Nottinghamshire force said they would be deploying more officers into Nottingham city centre, with a police dog operation planned for Saturday night and plain-clothes officers on duty.

They said they had also received 32 other spiking reports since September 4.

The first of the 15 was reported on October 2, and one victim suffered an injury which could be consistent with a needle.

The force said the highest number of reports were made on Friday October 15, with many of the complaints being made by students.

A 20-year-old man was arrested as part of a wider investigation into spiking after officers received a report of suspicious activity in Lower Parliament Street, Nottingham city centre, the following day.

He remains on conditional bail.

The spate of reported incidents prompted Home Secretary Priti Patel to ask police forces to assess the scale of the problem.

Groups from universities around the UK have also joined an online campaign calling for the boycott of nightclubs, with campaigners seeking "tangible" changes to make them safer, such as covers/stoppers for drinks, better training for staff and more rigorous searches of clubbers.

A petition launched last week to make it a legal requirement for nightclubs to thoroughly search people on entry has now gained more than 160,000 signatures.