Reading town centre locations tested for cocaine presence

The teenager caught driving under the influence of cocaine in The Oracle.

The former county lines slave who was caught with £30,000 of cocaine in a hotel room.

These are the stories -- all published by Reading Chronicle last month -- that show the prominence of cocaine in our town.

The dangers of the drug are numerous for both for users and for the direct and indirect victims of cocaine-users.

While these stories are shocking, the prominence of cocaine in Reading can still seem remote to the average Chronicle reader.

So with this in mind, we wanted to see how close to cocaine we really are in every walk of our daily lives.

The plan was to visit public toilets, communal areas, leisure and dining spaces around the town to test for cocaine.

Cocaine detection wipes

To do this, we bought 10 cocaine detection wipes online from cocainedetectionwipes.com.

The wipes are pink but upon wiping down a surface they will turn blue if there is a presumptive presence of cocaine.

Here’s how we got on.

Reading Borough Council offices

Here's what we found after swiping surfaces for cocaine at some of Reading' s busiest venues

First stop, I went to the home of our elected and unelected officials. The place where people make important decisions for our town.

Stepping into the public toilets located to the right of the main entrance, I wiped down the flat surface behind the toilet with the pink wipe, before wiping down the sink surface as well.

The wipe stayed pretty much the same colour as it was when I opened the packet.

Poor camerawork does not help but eagled-eyed readers may be able to see very vague patches of blue on the wipe.

Here's what we found after swiping surfaces for cocaine at some of Reading' s busiest venues

Given the slightness of the colour, this was a promising start to our investigation.

Dover Street Play Area

Here's what we found after swiping surfaces for cocaine at some of Reading' s busiest venues

Next, I took a ten-minute detour just outside the town centre, across the pedestrian walkway over the IDR, to Dover Street Play Area.

This is a small play area flanked on top of the hill overlooking the town centre.

It has two benches, a climbing area complete with slide, a swing and a see-saw.

I wiped down the flat surfaces of one of the benches to test for cocaine here.

Here's what we found after swiping surfaces for cocaine at some of Reading' s busiest venues

Naturally, the benches were a bit dirty so as expected, a lot of the wipe turned brown.

However, there were a few patches of blue on the wipe, too -- patches that were undoubtedly darker in colour than they were on the wipe I used at the council offices.

Although still not a indication of a strong presence of cocaine, this was still a more worrying discovery given the location.

The Oracle car parking machines

Here's what we found after swiping surfaces for cocaine at some of Reading' s busiest venues

A hop, skip and a jump back to town led me to the car parking machines outside the Riverside car park at The Oracle.

I chose to wipe down these machines as thousands of people use them every week and would surely be a good apparatus to test.

My approximation was right as the wipe did turn the darkest shade of blue yet, albeit only in small patches.

We asked The Oracle’s PR team about the result of this wipe.

Here's what we found after swiping surfaces for cocaine at some of Reading' s busiest venues

A spokesperson said: “Our carparks are closely monitored by CCTV and security staff. All communal areas also undergo regular cleaning to ensure the safety of our customers and colleagues, which is always our top priority.”

McDonald’s, The Oracle

Here's what we found after swiping surfaces for cocaine at some of Reading' s busiest venues

Thinking along the same lines, I next ventured across Cooksbridge to McDonald’s on the Riverside to test their giant touchscreen ordering devices.

Again, I thought thousands of people use these columns every day, so they must be a good apparatus to test.

However, this time the wipe came back clean.

Here's what we found after swiping surfaces for cocaine at some of Reading' s busiest venues

Again, like with the wipe used at the council offices, it came back mostly clean with a few very vague spots of blue, indicating a weak presence of cocaine.

McDonald’s was contacted for comment.

Reading Town Hall

Here's what we found after swiping surfaces for cocaine at some of Reading' s busiest venues

Over on the other side of the town centre, I went into Reading Town Hall to test the toilets for a presence of cocaine.

The town hall is the home of inquests, Reading Museum, and numerous events (on the day I ventured in a job fair was taking place).

Here's what we found after swiping surfaces for cocaine at some of Reading' s busiest venues

But it is not the home of a strong presumptive presence of cocaine after the wipe I used in the public bathroom came back clean, with only a tiny fleck of blue at the top of wipe.

Reading Station

Another town hub that sees thousands of people come and go every week.

Here's what we found after swiping surfaces for cocaine at some of Reading' s busiest venues

Without buying a ticket at the station, I was only allowed in to the entrance where there are a few fast-food eateries and cafes, as well as public toilets and ticket machines.

I first wiped down the surfaces in the bathroom, the handrails on the stairs leading to the car park, and the ticket machine keypads.

To my surprise, the wipe remained pink and again only very slight patches of blue could be seen.

Here's what we found after swiping surfaces for cocaine at some of Reading' s busiest venues

National Rail was contacted for comment.

The Hope Tap

Where next other than arguably Reading’s busiest pub/restaurant?

When I went into the Wetherspoon outlet at around 2pm on Wednesday last week, the establishment was heaving with residents grabbing midday pints and enjoying cheap and cheerful meals.

Here's what we found after swiping surfaces for cocaine at some of Reading' s busiest venues

When it’s not catering for the lunchtime crowd, The Hope Tap is also one of Reading’s busiest venues on a weekend evening.

It’s the preferred destination for clubbers squeezing in a few cheaper drinks before hitting one of Friar Street’s late-night venues.

So this was a destination I had to test.

I wiped down a toilet roll holder in a cubicle and the flat surface next to the sinks in the bathroom.

And the wipe came back the darkest shade of blue I had seen so far.

As our picture shows, it had dark smudges across a fairly significant proportion of the wipe, indicating a strong presumptive presence of cocaine.

We asked Wetherspoon’s PR team to comment on this result.

Here's what we found after swiping surfaces for cocaine at some of Reading' s busiest venues

Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon said: “Wetherspoon has a zero-tolerance approach to illegal drug use in its pubs and any customer found in possession of drugs will be asked immediately to leave the premises and the Police will be informed.

“Staff conduct hourly toilet checks in all pubs.

“The company has an alcohol and drugs policy, which states that employees attending work must be free of any adverse effects of alcohol or illegal drugs. The possession, consumption or sale of illegal drugs in the working environment is strictly prohibited.”

Broad St Mall

The long-standing shopping centre was also a key town landmark earmarked for testing given the hundreds of residents who pass through every day.

Here's what we found after swiping surfaces for cocaine at some of Reading' s busiest venues

Like with other locations, I wiped down the flat surfaces in the centre’s gents bathroom.

The wipe came back with a few light blue patches.

The toilets in the Broad St Mall are actually maintained by Reading Borough Council and this wipe arguably indicated the strongest presumptive presence of cocaine from the four council-operated locations I tested.

We asked Reading Borough Council to comment on the results of our investigation.

Here's what we found after swiping surfaces for cocaine at some of Reading' s busiest venues

A spokesperson said: “The Council takes the issue of substance misuse extremely seriously.

“We would point out that all of the locations where this testing took place are open public places which attract many thousands of visitors a year.

“We would also add that a great deal of this sort of ‘wipe testing’ has been carried out in public buildings nationally, so this is not a Reading specific problem.

“We nevertheless thank the Reading Chronicle for bringing it to our attention. Should any drug use be identified in Council buildings or property we will of course take appropriate action, including reporting the matter to police colleagues.”

Reading Magistrates’ Court

And last but not least, I went to Reading’s junior court to test the toilets used by the region’s accused and the convicted.

Here's what we found after swiping surfaces for cocaine at some of Reading' s busiest venues

Given a lot of minor drug offences are dealt with at this court, one would hope the wipe would come back clean.

However, following a wipe of the sink and surfaces, several small blue patches appeared on the material.

Some patches were darker than others, indicating a stronger presumptive presence of cocaine.

Here's what we found after swiping surfaces for cocaine at some of Reading' s busiest venues

Here’s what a Courts and Tribunal Services press officer had to say about our investigation.

“Robust checks are carried out at all courts across the country to safeguard the public and prevent illegal activity taking place on court premises.

“Public areas in all courts are patrolled regularly and police are immediately notified of anyone carrying out illegal activities.

Final thoughts

It’s undoubtedly positive that most of the wipes came back with very few light blue patches, indicating a weak presumptive presence of cocaine in most locations.

However, it is concerning that some locations -- and in particular Reading Magistrates’ Court and the Dover Street Play Area -- returned results suggesting at least some cocaine was present.

Overall, I was more encouraged with the results than I was expecting, but appreciate there is more work to do to rid Reading of the Class A drug.

Thames Valley Police was contacted for comment.