Cocaine found in loos of more than half the South Yorkshire pubs inspected by police

Officers carried out unannounced checks at the pubs in Rotherham as part of Operation Alligator, which was launched to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour in the town.

Members of Rotherham Central Neighbourhood Policing Team used knife search wands on customers and tested surfaces using cocaine wipes.

The tests, carried out last Thursday with the cooperation of the pubs and customers, revealed traces of cocaine in the rest rooms at four of the seven pubs inspected.

Sergeant Simon Kirkham said: “Operation Alligator is all about listening to the issues which concenr the local community, and developing and deploying strategies to resolve them.

”This latest operation is just one of many deployments planned as part of the operation. We’d like to reassure the people of Rotherham that their voices are being heard, and we have a brilliant team in place to tackle crime and achieve positive results as a result of our dedicated initiative.”

South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Alan Billings added: “The team of PCs and PCSOs who went out in force to conduct this work have done a brilliant job of reassuring the public that issues which affect their communities are being addressed.

“Our work will continue, and the locations in question will continue to benefit from an increased police presence.

“We would like to reiterate our thanks and appreciation to the public and the staff at each of the public houses visited for their support in this initiative.”