YOUNG women are planning a boycott of nightclubs following a wave of alleged drink spikings.

It comes after a petition was made asking for the government to legally enforce thorough searches on people entering nightclubs.

Women in major towns and cities across the country have now opted to boycott clubs next Wednesday 27 in order to raise awareness of spiking issues in clubs.

Young women and teenagers in Brighton have joined the boycott, following in the footsteps of other student areas such as Birmingham, Oxford and Canterbury.

Each area has an Instagram page called "girls night in," with colourful graphics containing information on the campaign and a link to the petition, which now has more than 130,000 signatures.

A post on the Brighton page, which has more than 1,200 followers, says that they are joining the boycott because of a rise in the number of students waking up with no memory of the night before.

The page also criticises the lack of response from clubs and bars to complaints.

"We are asking clubs and bars to increase their entry security. We are asking clubs and bars to provide free drink protections devices (drink drivers etc). We're asking clubs and bars to provide a clear and obvious medical centre and a safe way to get home," the post reads.

The first account was created by Sophie Thompson, 21, a second year Leeds University student, in response to what she told the BBC was an "epidemic" of drink spiking.

Ms Thompson said there was "no coherent protocol" over drink spiking for bars and clubs to follow, so "these venues don't necessarily do anything to help people or prevent it from happening in the first place".

Posts across social media in recent weeks have reinforced the concerns of a rise in drink spiking since students returned to universities last month.

There have been claims across several platforms of girls being spiked through injections, with alleged photo evidence of needle pricks and numbing cream.

More information about the Brighton boycott can be found here www.instagram.com/girlsnightinbrighton/ and the petition can be found here petition.parliament.uk/petitions/598986.

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