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Spiking has been around for years but now there are fresh fears after a disturbing new trend of injecting victims in order to take advantage of them.

Mike Pagett, who owns venues on King Street, said: “Its been an issue for many years and we have always had anti-spiking measures in place like advising people not to leave drinks unattended,

“We’ve always searched people as they enter our venues but in light of recent events, we have decided to increase it, especially looking for needles or suspicious liquid containers.

Michael Pagett, owner of Reef bar and Morty's on King Street

“Tap water has always been offered for free at our venues but not many people are aware of it. We also have lids for people’s drinks.”

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Mr Pagett said: “The last time someone came to us saying their drink had been spiked was well before the pandemic began and no-one has reported being spiked by injection.”

Venues across the borough are stepping up security measures and urging anyone who thinks they have been spiked to contact staff.

“If someone comes to us saying they have been spiked, we would make sure they were okay and aware of their surroundings and if they became unwell, we would get our first-aid team,”

said Mr Pagett. “If it is something more serious, we would either phone an ambulance or, if their services our busy, a member of staff would take them to hospital.”

However, some club owners believe spiking is not as big an issue as it used to be.

Tony Callaghan, owner of the Fifteens chain, said: “Around 12 years ago, drink spiking was a massive issue.

“My venues used to hand out testing kits for people to see if they had been spiked.

“Now it seems to be a small minority of people, who need to be caught because this new way of spiking is appalling.”

With the hospitality industry just getting back on its feet, some but not all bosses fear the protests and spiking reports could damage trade once again.

Mr Pagett said: “I think it will have an effect on consumer confidence and nightclubs will see reduced trade as a result.”

But Mr Callaghan said: “I don’t think it will affect the nightclub industry as such. I feel it has been blown out of proportion and think it’s just a small group of people doing it. Hopefully it won’t catch on.”

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Wigan clubs crack down on spike threat