One woman has said she narrowly avoided being spiked when her pal noticed a white fizzing tablet in her drink.
Like many of us, Rachel Cullen was with her mate Sophie Luke at Spoons ringing in the long weekend on 28 August.
Advert
However, what should've been a happy summer sesh took a darker turn, when Rachel noticed something in Sophie's glass.
The pair arrived at the pub, The Angel JD Wetherspoons in Basingstoke, Hampshire, at around 8:00pm.
They sat in the outdoor smoking area, chatting and drinking, with Rachel going to the bar to order two vodka, lime and lemonades at around 9:45pm.
They waited a little while before drinking but when Sophie was about to take a sip of her drink, Rachel saw that the drink was fizzing, not from the lemonade but from an apparent tablet at the bottom of the glass.
Advert
Footage of the drink shows it fizzing for 10 minutes as the tablet dissolves.
The pair reported the incident to staff, who replaced their drinks and gave them anti-spiking lids.
Now, Rachel is speaking out about the experience, saying: "It's frightening to think what could have happened.
Advert
"As soon as we saw it'd been spiked we said, 'oh my god, what's just happened?'
"We were just in complete shock. It was scary, I don't like thinking about it, it's just awful that it happened."
Luckily, Rachel said that Sophie didn't touch her drink for a while, which meant that her mate could more clearly see the tablet fizzing.
"Thankfully no one had drunk from it - we caught it early enough."
Advert
Rachel added: "The bar manager did everything he could to help. He gave us two new drinks with those anti-spiking lids on and we checked the CCTV, but both the smoking area and the bar were in blind spots."
"For the next 15 minutes after that I went round every table outside telling people to please watch their drinks and handing out those drink lids."
Rachel has since taken to social media to warn people further, saying: "It's one of those things where I wasn't immediately paying attention to what was happening with the drinks because you don't expect it to happen.
Advert
"I just want people to be aware and watch themselves and watch their drinks, to stop it happening and protect people in the future."
Spiking has become a serious problem in the UK recently, with the select committee being told in January this year that around 15 percent of women and seven percent of men have been spiked with alcohol or drugs.
Wetherspoon spokesperson Eddie Gershon said of the incident: "We were made aware by a customer that there had been a foreign object in her drink which appeared to be some form of tablet.
"The drink was immediately replaced and covers for her and her friend’s drinks were provided.
"We reviewed CCTV both of the drink at the bar and whilst on the customer’s table but could not see if it had been interfered with in any way.
"We are happy to cooperate with the police in any investigation.
"We have reiterated to our pub team the need for vigilance and posters will be displayed on the premises advising customers to be aware of any suspicious behaviour around their drinks.
"Drinks covers are available for customers on request."
LADbible has reached out to Wetherspoons for comment.