Police have carried out spot checks in Penrith pubs this week to find any evidence of drug use but the results were all clear.
It was part of Operation Regulate which aims protect the county’s streets as part of the Government’s national Action in Winter initiative.
The project aims to tackle and prevent violence against women and girls, crime in the night-time economy, retail crime including abuse towards shop employees, dangerous driving and anti-social behaviour (ASB).
Sergeant Becky Hunter, Cumbria police’s crime prevention, harm reduction and licensing sgt, conducted the tests in the toilets of Dockray Hall in Penrith and could find no traces of drugs.
She said: “It was incredibly good. They’re clearly doing the checks of toilets within the premises, as we would ask people to.
“So, we’ve got that vigilance from staff, making sure that people aren’t using those locations for drug taking.
“And we’ve checked those, and there’s no sign at all of any drugs being used in those locations. So a very good outcome and it’s a really well-run premises.”
David Allen, Cumbria’s police, fire and crime commissioner, was there to observe proceedings and was pleased with what he saw.
He said: “Actually, I am quite impressed. There were a couple of things I didn’t know about. The Challenge 25 stuff is very good.
“What I saw with the landlady and her knowledge, around IDs and fake IDs in particular, far outstrips mine.
“And they’re very proactive, and they were telling us of, you know, a fake ID that they seized at the weekend, and they knew exactly what to do with it and how to deal with it.
“I was quite reassured, very much so that they knew what they were doing. And then we’ve done the drugs wipes in the premises with no issues at all. There’s no sign of any drugs here.”
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