Toilet drug checks carried out by police in pubs and clubs in Sheffield

A dedicated policing operation in Sheffield city centre resulted in five arrests and the recovery of a knife and Class B drugs.

Sign up to receice newletters from The Star On Friday, February 23 and into the early hours of the following morning officers mounted Operation Scorpion - to tackle violent crime and associated drug use in the Steel City's 'night time economy'.

Six people were stopped and searched and two vehicles and a house were also searched. This led to five arrests, three of which were for drugs offences, as well as the seizure of one car, which was being driven by someone found to be over the drug driving limit.

A knife was seized as well as a small quantity of cannabis, and 15 pubs and clubs were visited. During these visits, drug checks were carried out in the toilets.

The operation forms part of a special programme of South Yorkshire Police activity funded by the Home Office to reduce the most serious violence through targeted hotspot policing and problem-solving initiatives.

Sergeant Simon Kirkham, who lead the operation, said: "It was great to be out in Sheffield again for another successful Operation Scorpion, which once again saw some important results achieved. I’m pleased that as a result of this activity, five people who were committing criminality in the night time economy were arrested, and of note, a knife was taken off the streets.

"People who live in and visit our city should be able to visit the night time economy without fear of violence and that is why it’s really important that we enforce against the criminal activities which we know sadly often lead to violence, such as drug-use and supply.

"By detecting and disrupting this criminal behaviour, and displaying a high visibility police presence, we are able to show the public that we continue to keep the public safe and deny criminals a place in our communities."

South Yorkshire Police was one of 20 forces to receive a share of a £29m Home Office pot to tackle serious violence.