DRUGS, anti-social behaviour, excess alcohol and kerb-crawling were the focus for police on one of the busiest nights of the year in the town centre over the weekend.

Around two dozen visible and plain clothes officers were on patrol throughout the night on Saturday, as the season of good cheer kicked off in earnest.

The drugs dog unit scoured pubs and clubs across the town centre to track down cannabis and cocaine early on in the night before it caused any serious issues, while foot patrols were out in force in problem hotspots.

During a good-natured night, a total of 17 drug searches were carried out and three arrests made for assault, criminal damage and public order offences.

Returning to premises which failed test purchases in October, including The Globe, King and Queen and The Cellar Bar, all in Highworth, and the Tap & Barrel in Manchester Road, officers found all had tightened up practices and passed the sting operations.

Insp Paul Saunders, of the town centre neighbourhood policing team, co-ordinated a series of four operations running simultaneously during the night, including the drugs dog, vice operation, licences premises checks, and Operation Mendota, responding to a significant rise in anti-social behaviour in Sussex Square over recent months.

“There are various different operations running together under the same banner,” said Insp Saunders.

“This was probably the busiest day before New Year’s Eve in terms of the night time economy, so we are putting extra resources in along with the usual response teams doing the rest of Swindon.

“If they did need any assistance we would be there to help out.

“Altogether, on top of the usual capacity we have 25 officers out including plain-clothes and specials.”

Drugs dog Patch was out on the town with handler PC Steve Duffy, and picked up five people in possession of drugs, mainly cannabis, of the 17 people searched, while 11 admitted recent possession of controlled substances.

“The passive drugs dog will just walk up to someone and sit next to them, the whole point being that it can be done inconspicuously and won’t cause a great deal of fuss,” added Insp Saunders.

“It has to be calm and controlled because of the environment and the people we are dealing with.

“That is important because we know cocaine use can be linked to night-time violence, and if you deal with that early on to stop the drugs getting into the clubs that can prevent a lot of problems later in the night.”

He said officers were gaining valuable experience in policing the busy Christmas period, after previous operations to tackle potential crime hotspots.

“Operation Drink has been running successfully for four or five years, and we are focusing on venues off the central sector and rural pubs,” he added.

“That is following up on previous failures to see if those venues have tightened their procedures up.

“All venues that were tested refused entry to the test purchase subjects, so there were no failures at all.

“During the vice operation we were looking at red routes in and out of the town centre, where people will walk home and can fall victim to any number of crimes, whether theft or robberies.

“We need to make sure those areas are safe and at the same time can look at targeting kerb-crawlers. We patrol those areas to make sure we do not get any secondary crime, which can happen when people have had too much to drink.

“It is the time to celebrate and we want people to go home having had a good time, not doing it to excess and to the point where they may become a victim of crime or get into trouble themselves.”

APS Leigh Vowles, leading one of the teams through their paces on the night, said their focus was on areas with the potential for problems, including Fight Club at the Meca and ASB in Sussex Square, which is currently subject to a dispersal order.

“This was the busiest Saturday before Christmas along with the boxing at the Meca, and we have the CCTV van stationed outside the Meca until it closes at around midnight,” he said.

“The drugs dog was checking premises around Old Town and New Town, and plain-clothes officers will be entering the premises ahead of the dog in case anyone does a runner. We are also helping out with Operation Mendota in Sussex Square.

“There are a group of around 20 to 30 who frequent the area and they have seen some nasty assaults and robberies, to the extent that some residents are too scared to go out of their own homes.

“We will be out on foot patrol there to make residents aware of what we are doing in the area.”

In total, three arrests were made for assault, criminal damage and public order offences, with all licenced premises passing test purchases and street warnings issued for drugs.

And Insp Saunders hailed the operation a success.

“Old Town was exceptionally busy, with New Town also busy as the night went on,” he said.

“Party goers were in very good spirits and in total only three arrests were made.

“We are very pleased with how the operation was run and that both the night time economy areas were well attended, and the public were enjoying the festive season with very little trouble or need for police intervention.”