WOMEN and girls should be able to enjoy Southampton without being fearful of being harmed in any way, says a city councillor.

It comes after a teenager said she was spiked in Trilogy nightclub in London Road. Charlotte Evans described the incident, which left her unable to stand, as “absolutely terrifying”.

The 18-year-old had been drinking with friends on Sunday night and believes she was stabbed with a needle in her left arm.

Commenting on the spiking, Labour leader Satvir Kaur, said: “Southampton is a vibrant and fun city, where women and girls should be able to enjoy it without being fearful of being harmed in any way.”

The councillor for Shirley added: “Sadly the reality is that there are many cases like this one, where people like Charlotte Evans are doing everything right to be safe, but still fall victim to crime.

“It’s forcing people to rethink going out, which is having an impact our local economy.”

Hampshire police have since launched an investigation.

A spokesperson for Trilogy has told the Daily Echo it will assist with any police enquiry if requested to do so.

The club has stressed that customer safety remains of paramount importance, and it has a number of measures in place to help deter spikings.

These include CCTV coverage of the venue, ID scans for everyone who enters and using test strips to routinely check any suspect drinks.

Furthermore, the club spokesperson says that Trilogy is trialling the use of ‘StopTopps’ - anti-spiking lids for drinks -which are awaiting delivery.

Last week, Switch, in Above Bar Street, closed on Wednesday in a bid to support the Girls Night In (GNI) movement.

The movement, which made national headlines, saw students across the city and the rest of the UK take a stand to boycott clubs and bars to address the issue of drink spiking and sexual violence. Meanwhile, Hampshire police have issued a statement to reassure people that the force is taking the issue of spiking seriously.

A spokesperson previously said: “Anyone who thinks that they have been spiked in a club should report this immediately to both police and venue staff, the quicker we know about it the better.

“Our licensing teams are speaking to premises about how they safeguard their customers.

“We continue to work with premises so that victims feel safe to report incidents when they happen so that we have the best opportunity to identify offenders.”