NEARLY 1,000 pub-goers were randomly tested for cocaine, cannabis, heroin and ecstasy in Stroud over one weekend.

A new drug testing device called an itemiser was used by police in the Queen Victoria and The Lord John with the full support of licensees.

Being tested was a condition of entry to both venues and police had the right to question anyone who refused.

Swabs were taken from the hands of customers and then fed into the itemiser for analysis. Results were indicated in seconds.

Out of the 1,000 customers tested only 36 were subsequently searched. Of these one man was arrested and charged for possession of a quantity of class C drugs. Nobody refused to be tested.

Assistant Divisional Officer Steve Lindsay, who led the operation, said: “The machine tied in with the force's efforts to tackle the use of illegal drugs in Stroud town centre and their role in incidents of violence that occasionally occur on weekends.

“The results were very encouraging but it is essential we continue this work in the future to address the minority of people whose behaviour causes problems.

“The fact that we had no refusals and that the feedback was so consistently positive indicates to me that we have the support of the public on this.

“The entire operation as a whole was a great success, with nearly 400 hours of patrols carried out across the division and all our priorities for different communities monitored.”

The operation, called Unify Two, which took place on the evenings of Friday, November 7 and Saturday, November 8 was Gloucestershire Constabulary’s contribution to National Specials Weekend, an initiative designed to highlight the work of special constables.

In the Cotswolds and Stroud division alone it involved 18 officers working two nights in targeted patrols to address rowdy behaviour, underage drinking and drugs offences.

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