[420 Girl]

Calls were made today to introduce drug detection machines across Aberdeen’s pubs and clubs.

The plea comes after a trial that saw 750 revellers tested at nine Aberdeen premises over the weekend.

Two people were arrested for allegedly possessing class A drugs and have been reported to the procurator fiscal.

The trial has been hailed a success by the Grampian Joint Police Board which wants to see the equipment used on a permanent basis.

The Itemiser device, which was on loan from the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, can tell within seconds if a person has been in contact with cannabis and *edit hard drugs.

It allows police officers to swab people’s hands and analyse the results.

More than 750 people were tested outside the venues which volunteered to take part in the scheme.

Police board chairman Martin Greig said licensed premises should help meet the cost of buying the £25,000 device.

He said: “We all share responsibility in improving safety in the city centre and this includes the private sector.

“This device is a useful crime-fighting tool so any way of securing funding for it should be looked into.”

John Mulhern, general manager of nightclub Espionage, on Union Street, said: “It is the biggest deterrent that I have seen so far to people using drugs in the city centre – and I have been here 12 years. We are for anything that reduces or deals with the problem.”

The arrests did not happen at Espionage.

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