Three women on nights out ended up in hospital amid a spate of suspected spikings.
One of those affected – student Georgia Hills – has spoken out, saying she felt ‘strange, dizzy and out of it’ despite having had ‘nowhere near enough to get drunk.’
It is feared that at least one of the incidents in Preston on Saturday is the latest example of female clubbers being injected with needles as part of a horrifying new trend.
Georgia, 18, told the Lancashire Post she ‘suddenly blacked out’ on the dancefloor and later went to hospital where medics found a puncture wound in her leg.
Separately, police have confirmed that two other women, one in her 20s and the other in her 30s, reported having their drinks spiked. The two incidents are not believed to be linked.
Georgia, a student in Liverpool, was back in her hometown of Preston for the weekend and was out with some friends when she started feeling strange.
She told the Post: ‘The police have reviewed CCTV from the club and they say a man was seen lingering around me, but I don’t remember a thing.
‘When I got back to my mates, they were really worried about me. I was all over the place and not like myself at all.
‘They shone a phone in my eyes and they were shocked at how dilated they were. They said my pupils were really, really small and red. Like I was off my head on drugs.’
She went home and tried to sleep it off but still felt ill the next day and went to hospital where she underwent blood tests and is waiting to see what substance was used.
A Lancashire Police spokesman said officers were called on Sunday after a woman in her late teens attended hospital with concerns she had been injected.
The incident is believed to have taken place in Preston city centre some time between 10.20pm on Saturday and 4.45am.
In a separate incident, police were called to Lancaster Road at just before midnight by the ambulance service who were treating two women who believed they had been spiked.
Both women were taken to hospital but later discharged, the force said.
Officers are ‘keeping an open mind’ over whether the incidents were connected but are so far not linking the two.
The reports came amid a rise in reports of drink spiking and claims people have been drugged by injection.
Detective Inspector George Binns said: ‘We appreciate that there is a great deal of concern surrounding these reports, particularly on the back of what has been reported elsewhere in the country.
‘We take reports like these extremely seriously and are working diligently to get to the bottom of exactly what has happened.
‘We are at the early stages of our investigations and we will update the public further as soon as we can.
‘The victims are being supported and I would encourage anybody with information which could assist our inquiries to come forward.
‘If you think you have been the victim of this kind of offence, we would encourage you to report it to the police or a member of the bar staff as soon as possible.
‘You will be believed and it will allow us to obtain the strongest possible evidence to secure a conviction.’
He said police were liaising with licensing and venues about safety and there would be ‘reassurance patrols’ in Preston next weekend.
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