Drink spiking: Humberside Police to use new test kits

Humberside Police said it had been carrying out spiking preventative work with venues across the area for several months

New drug-testing kits have been rolled out by a police force as its latest figures show a big rise in reports of suspected spiking in the past month.

Humberside Police received 47 reports of spiking, both by injection and in drinks, in the four weeks to 4 December, compared with 27 in October.

Most of the reports were of drinks being spiked, the force added.

Its new kits use a urine test and can recognise up to 20 different drugs in the person's system.

They are to be used by police to test someone up to 24 hours after a suspected attack.

Samples obtained from the kits will help police quickly identify what substances may have been used and to offer support to the victim while forensic inquiries are made.

Assistant Chief Constable Darren Downs said: "The results from these kits will only be used for intelligence purposes. We are not using them to take action against people who may have taken recreational drugs."

He said the new kits "have proven very successful" and he hoped they would reassure people going to the region's venues.

The latest spiking figure is higher than the 27 reports of spiking incidents in a month reported by the force in October.

Those figures came a week after the Girls Night In boycott of nightclubs by women across the UK designed to highlight the issue.

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How to watch out for Spiking

• Protect your drinks

• Use existing measures such as glass covers and bottle stoppers

• Look out for your friends

• If they seem to be acting differently, talk to them

• If your concerns remain, tell bar or door staff to see if they can get their drink tested or get help in the venue

• Report incidents to the police.

Source: Humberside PoliceFor more safety tips about spiking Talk to Frank

One positive impact of more people coming forward over suspected spiking was that police could "investigate these incidents more comprehensively", said the force.

As the testing kits were new no figures were yet available for the number of people who have taken a spiking test, it added.