PARTYGOERS have been urged to take care on nights out in Southend due to an increase in the number of drinks being spiked with date rape drugs.

Essex Police confirmed a number of incidents had been reported, and a number of people have been hospitalised.

However nightclub bosses at MooMoos in Southend denied incidents involved the club following claims on a social media report which went viral.

The post, shared more than 3,000 times on Facebook, claims a woman had her drink spiked at MooMoos.

A friend of the woman says she was taken to hospital where she was told she had been given the “date rape drug” which had to be flushed out of her system.

The post went on to claim that seven other reports of drink spiking had been made to the club.

A spokesman for MooMoo Southend said: “We are aware of a social media post that have claimed alleged spikings taking place. 

"As far as we are aware, none of these incidents have been reported to the police and none of them have been reported to us by the alleged victims.

"We take the welfare of all our customers and these accusations very seriously and have investigated the claims.

"We have no evidence to suggest that any of these incidents took place.

"We work very closely with the authorities to ensure that we do everything we can to operate a safe night out for customers. 

"We operate a search policy on entry, we have 22 SIA trained members of security , 6 managers and 55 members of staff, all of which are trained in drug awareness and suspicious behaviour.

"We employ a fully trained medic on Fridays and Saturday nights to deal with any minor medical issues and are involved in a new initiative with the police which will see us team up with Drinkaware.

"The venue will have club hosts working in the venue and specifically looking out for vulnerable people and offering care to anyone that needs it. 

"We will continue to remain vigilant and give our customers great nights out.

"Lastly we must stress to all our customers and your readers to never leave drinks unattended anywhere and please report any suspicious behaviour to a member of staff on your nights out, wherever you may go."

Victims should contact 101.