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Drug users were sniffed out in the town centre on Friday  night last week by an unlikely four-legged hero with a nose for crime.

Town centre Inspector Keith Stacey recruited a passive drugs dog – which sniffs out suspects who have been in contact with drugs and then sits next to them – as part of an on-going crackdown in the town’s bars, clubs and pubs.

Six-year-old black Labrador, Benson, a rescue dog, identified 20 people who had been in contact with drugs and one drinker in The Coopers Arms, Market Place, spent the night in the cells after he was arrested for possession of cocaine.

Insp Stacey, who has used the top dog in Reading before, said: “He is very rarely wrong and lots of people whom we did search but didn’t find anything, did admit to taking something that night or having smoked something.

“I think the operation was very well received by members of the public and the support from the licensees is fantastic.

“I don’t have any preconceived ideas about any premises in the town centre with a drug problem, but we would always encourage members of the public to get in touch if they have any information.”

Scores of revellers across the town welcomed Benson and his handler, former police dog trainer Phil Munt, who works for Corporate Search which trains search dogs to work with the police and other organisations, as officers accompanied them during venue searches.

Revellers picked out by the intelligent dog were searched by the neighbourhood team and had their details taken down.

Following a tip-off from a sharp-eyed doorman at Yates’s in Friar Street, he even sniffed out a cannabis grinder in a bin that a woman had allegedly thrown away after refusing to have her bag searched.

Bill Donne, who chairs Reading Pubwatch, said licensees and industry professionals were strongly behind the initiative, which he said was first introduced to Reading about four years ago.

He said: “The drugs dogs have been very popular with the public and they are a very useful and successful tool in reducing crime.

“There is no doubt that where there are people taking drugs there is an added risk to members of the public and bar staff, especially with people fuelled up on a cocktail of cocaine and alcohol. But the figures and number of seizures are going down and overall I believe Reading is becoming safer.”

Insp Stacey said they would also continue to use the drugs itemiser in the town centre to deter people from taking drugs and identify those who had been in contact with them.

- Rhys Sealey, 26, from Courage Court, Southcote, has been charged with possession of cocaine and released on bail to attend Reading Magistrates’ Court on Friday, March 20.

- An 18-year-old Whitley man was given a cannabis street caution in Friar Street and fined £80.

Sniffed out by pooch who nose

- The Monks’ Retreat, Friar Street – five men searched
- The Coopers Arms, Market Place – two men searched, one arrested for cocaine possession
- Yates’s Wine Lodge, Friar Street – three men searched, plus one woman outside in relation to a cannabis grinder
- Walkabout, Friar Street – one man searched
- Q Bar, Friar Street – three men searched
- Two teenage boys and two men were also searched in Oxford Road, West Reading