A NIGHTCLUB is closing its doors for one night to support a planned boycott of venues following increased reports of spiking.
Students and university societies have vowed to stay away from bars and nightclubs tonight in response to increasing reports of drink spiking and spiking with needles.
Pryzm in West Street, Brighton, has joined other clubs and venues across the country in closing its doors this evening.
It said the decision had been made “in solidarity with the nightlife boycott”.
Last week, the club issued an apology after students reported incidents of misogyny and homophobia, along with concerns over drink spiking
In a statement posted on Facebook, a spokesman said: “After much consideration and after listening to both our staff and our guests, we can confirm we have taken the decision to close our student night on Wednesday 27 October in solidarity with the nightlife boycott.
“Our commitment to guest safety remains our number one priority and we will continue to improve the measures we have in place with improvements to our training programmes, communication of our We Care programme and anti-spiking devices being made available.
“We will continue with our one hundred per cent search policy, our security wearing bodycams and our specialist welfare team including an onsite medic and first aiders managing our medical room
“We would like to show our support to our student partners this Wednesday in raising the awareness of safety in the night time economy. Let’s work together to stamp this out.”
The national Night In campaign was started by two students over concerns about a recent rise in spiking incidents.
Yesterday, Sussex Police said it was investigating six reports of women being injected while on nights out in Brighton during the past week
Now, campaigners from more than 30 universities who plan to join the nightclub boycott say they are seeking “tangible” changes to address a problem that has become an “epidemic”.
Young women and teenagers in Brighton have joined the boycott and have created an Instagram page called "girls night in," with colourful graphics containing information on the campaign.
A post on the Brighton page, which has more than 1,600 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.
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