Manchester clubbing behemoth The Warehouse Project has revealed it has begun to roll out urine tests on-site to people who are afraid they may have been spiked.
Speaking to The Independent in an exclusive, WHP boss Sacha Lord said his club night at Depot Mayfield was one of the ‘first ones’ to make the tests available to partygoers.
Telling the paper that WHP medics had “actually bought kits last week”, he said that the club had started to roll these out over the Halloween weekend and plans to use them moving forward.
“We’ve got a real education job to do here,” he said, adding “I just don’t think it’s right that a woman should feel protected by a bottle top on the right out.”
However, it isn’t clear whether the club has plans to introduce any more new measures to keep women safe at the venue – aside from offering urine tests to a victim if / when an alleged spiking has already occurred.
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The move to introduce urine testing kits follows a worrying rise in spiking across the UK since the reopening of nightclubs this July, including a new trend of needle spikings reported in areas close to Manchester including Liverpool, Nottingham, and Preston.
It also comes nearly a week after club boycotts, an End Spiking Now protest, and a list of demands being sent to Andy Burnham and other leaders at the GMCA – with protestors’ key focus being for women’s safety to be made more of a priority in venues across Manchester.
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One of the key demands of last week’s boycott was that nightclubs thoroughly search guests upon entry, with some women starting a petition to ask the government to make this a legal requirement.
Credit: SONY DSC
Asking for a “pat-down search or metal detector”, the petition now has over 171,000 signatures at the time of writing – well over the 100,000 needed for it to be considered for debate in parliament.
The letter to the GMCA, meanwhile, asked for designated employees on hand to deal with problems of spiking and harassment, as well as for venues to produce their own clear procedures on how to deal with such incidents.
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It also asked that the GMCA provides bars and nightclubs with anti-spiking devices, enforce more staff training, and create a toolkit for women detailing measures venues should have in place in order to be licensed.
The comments made by Sacha Lord on changing behaviour echo those made by Andy Burnham, who was in attendance at last week’s End Spiking Now demo.
Mr Burnham told the crowd, “This one is on us: men, lads, boys. That might mean calling out mates for their behaviour or it might mean changing our own behaviour.”
The move from Warehouse Project to introduce urine spiking is a welcome one, however – as Sacha Lord seems to acknowledge himself – more still needs to be done.
The Warehouse Project has been approached for comment.
Government to begin giving millions of UK workers ‘significant’ pay rises from this week
Emily Sergeant
The Government is to begin giving more than three million workers across the UK a ‘significant pay boost’ from this week.
Announced as part of last year’s Budget, and in a bid to ‘put thousands of pounds back in the pockets of working people every year’, the Government confirmed back at the beginning of February that a new National Living Wage of £12.21 per hour, and a new National Minimum Wage of £10 per hour would take effect from April onwards.
Ministers said the 6.7% increase to the National Living Wage – which is now worth £1,400 a year for an eligible full-time worker – is a ‘significant step’ towards delivering the manifesto commitment to deliver a ‘genuine’ living wage.
Today, millions of working people will get a pay rise as the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage increase.
New rates:
🔹 from £11.44 to £12.21 if you’re 21 and over 🔹 from £8.60 to £10.00 if you’re 18-20 🔹 from £6.40 to £7.55 if you’re under 18 or an apprentice
— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) April 1, 2025
On top of this, the National Minimum Wage for 18-20-year-olds is also set to go up by a record increase of £1.40 an hour, which means full-time younger workers eligible for the rate will see their pay boosted by £2,500 a year.
The minimum wage pay boot has also been called the first step towards removing the ‘unfair’ age-bands that see a 21-year-old getting paid more than a 20-year-old for doing the same job.
According to the Government, this is also the first time the National Living Wage has taken into account the cost of living and inflation.
Three million UK workers will be getting a ‘significant’ pay rise from this week / Credit: Pexels
“In the last Parliament, living standards were the worst on record and sky-high inflation was crushing working people’s finances,” commented Chancellor Rachel Reeves, explaining why the pay boosts are being introduced.
“Making work pay is good for workers, will strengthen businesses’ workforces, and will grow our economy for years to come.
“It’s a key milestone on my number one mission to get more money in people’s pockets as we deliver our Plan for Change.”
Not only that, but the minimum hourly wage for an apprentice is also set to be boosted later this year too, with an 18-year-old apprentice seeing their minimum hourly pay increase by 18% to £7.55 an hour.
As a result of these particular changes, a further four million workers also could benefit from the positive spill-over impacts of the rate increases.
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Body of woman found in River Mersey last year finally identified after ‘extensive’ investigation
Emily Sergeant
The body of woman who was found in the River Mersey last year has finally been identified.
Following what has been described as an ‘extensive investigation’ by Greater Manchester Police‘s (GMP) Major Incident Team to determine the identity of the body, which was sadly discovered in the river adjacent to Chorlton Water Park on 21 March 2024, the family of the victim has now been informed and supported by specialist officers.
The victim has been formally named as 38-year-old Laura Stanley, who was originally from Derbyshire but was living in Stockport.
After the body was discovered, and ‘exhaustive and determined’ investigation by GMP officers began to identify here, including detailed checks of both national and international databases.
The Major Incident Team (MIT) also closely worked in collaboration with specialist forensic service providers to create an anthropological profile, which eventually culminated in the creation of a facial reconstruction image.
Following several media appeals, a relative of Laura contacted officers and then a DNA match was confirmed through a familial link.
“Laura was a kind and gentle person with a great sense of fun and adventure,” Laura’s family said in a heartbreaking tribute to her.
“She was generous, thoughtful, caring and always keen to volunteer within the community. Laura was a proud and loving mum and she will be greatly missed by her girls and all of her friends and family who loved her dearly.”
The River Mersey, across from Chorlton Water Park, where Laura’s body was discovered / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
While Laura has now been identified, police say further investigations will take place to understand her last movements, the events that led to her death, and her discovery in the river.
Additionally, as is standard practice, GMP’s Professional Standards Directorate is also reviewing a previous missing report relating to Laura in the time before the discovery of her body, which will determine prior contact relating to Laura, and whether the appropriate measures were enacted.
#UPDATE | A woman who was discovered in the River Mersey last year has been identified following an extensive investigation by officers in GMP’s Major Incident Team.
Thank you to those of you who have shared our appeals over the last year.
Anyone who knew Laura and thinks they may be able to assist with the investigation is asked to contact police by calling 101, or by using the Live Chat Service at gmp.police.uk, quoting log number 1191 of 21 March 2024.
Alternatively, you can contact the Major Incident Team Syndicate 3 directly on 0161 856 9479, or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Georgina Pellant -
2nd November 2021 
