Call to report suspected spiking straight away

Police have revealed 51 tests were carried out at the Boardmasters festival in Cornwall

Anyone who thinks they may have been spiked on a night out in the South West should report it straight away, the police and crime commissioner has said.

Police have revealed 51 tests were carried out at the Boardmasters festival in Cornwall two weeks ago after people complained their drinks had been interfered with or they had been stabbed with a needle. No cases of spiking were confirmed.

Boardmasters said there was a robust anti-spiking plan as part of a wider campaign to address violence against women and girls.

Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez said every complaint needed to be investigated.

Alison Hernandez urged people to report spiking so the force has an idea of how widely spread the issue is

She said large events like festivals were a "prime opportunity" for incidents with lots of people gathered together.

Ms Hernandez said the force was doing a lot of work to raise awareness of spiking in a bid to prevent it happening in the community.

"I think the challenge for us is we do want people to come forward and report it," she said.

"We need to get to the point of really understanding how much we think its prevalent in our community."

Stop tops to prevent drink spiking were handed out at this year's event

The BBC heard from a 17-year-old boy who was at the festival with his girlfriend, also 17.

He said they were both stabbed in the arm with a needle with some sort of substance – with his girlfriend more seriously affected as she "lost consciousness with her eyes rolling back".

He said he had to carry her to the medical tent.

'Really scary'

Another 17-year-old girl told the BBC her best friend and boyfriend thought they had both been spiked.

She said "My boyfriend bumped into another person by accident, felt something sharp in his arm and then felt unwell.

"My best friend told someone to stop touching her in the rave tent, he didn't like that and injected something in her bum.

"She said it was really scary and then started feeling unwell."

None of the people the BBC spoke to had reported the incident to police.

Dawn Dines, from Stamp out Spiking, urged anyone who thought they had been spiked to report it to police

Dawn Dines, chief executive and founder of Stamp out Spiking, said: "Spiking has always been happening but it's just in the last few years it's become a media sensation.

"We always recommend anyone who's been affected to contact the police."

'Negative for spiking'

Det Insp Claire Nicholls said: "This year, 51 police-authorised tests were carried out in relation to reports of spiking at the Boardmasters music festival.

"Of these, 49 were negative for spiking and the two that tested positive could be accounted for by the actions of those individuals who were tested and have not been identified as criminal offences.

"While assaults using needles are rare, and none were confirmed at Boardmasters, we ask that people are vigilant when in crowded spaces and notify premises staff or police of any suspicious behaviour."

Boardmasters said: "The reporting process is part of Boardmasters safeguarding policy, which has been developed in collaboration with Cornwall Council and Devon and Cornwall Police. Any reports of spiking are logged with event control.

"Each suspected spiking is dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

"Anyone at Boardmasters who presents to welfare or medical with a suspected spiking is asked a series of questions, and analysis is taken before a test is given.

"Once a test has been given, a log is created to ensure there is a record of each report. Depending on the results depends what is to follow."