House parties are a “hotbed” for drink spiking with a rise in incidents likely to occur on New Year's Eve, experts have said.

       The warning comes after reports of women being injected with unknown substances in nightclubs and bars in recent months.

       Research carried out by The Alcohol Education Trust, found some 35 per cent of drink spiking takes place at private parties. This is substantially higher than the 28 per cent of drink spiking which occurs in nightclubs.

       “With New Year's Eve ahead of us – we do need to keep our wits about us where ever we choose to party,” Helena Conibear, chief executive of the organisation, told The Independent. “Drink spiking is likely to rise on New Years because more people are out with friends.”

       She said people are more likely to “overindulge” on New Year’s Eve so need to “extra vigilant” of both their own and their friend’s safety - adding there are more house parties than usual on 31 December.

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       House parties can be more dangerous as party-goers are less likely to keep tabs on their drinks due to being more relaxed, Ms Conibear added.

       She said: “At house parties, as we’re amongst friends our guard is more likely to be down and we’re less likely to keep a close eye on our drinks.

       “Drink spiking predators choose house parties as people are likely to be more relaxed and there’s no CCTV either – so just a caution – stay aware, keep an eye on your mates and them on you.

       “We are extremely concerned that while the industry works towards ensuring people can have a safe night out in well run, regulated environments, illegal events and house parties according to early statistics are a hotbed for these crimes and must be dealt with by the police.”

       Ms Conibear warned such places are “unregulated” and have a dearth of medical facilities so are therefore a “huge cause for concern”.

       “All forms of gendered violence are disproportionately perpetrated by someone who is already known to the victim, and yet the narratives in relation to spiking are still heavily focussed on so-called stranger danger.”

       Bryony Beynon

       Charities and campaigners recently told The Independent incidents are often “dismissed” by both the police and the NHS, which generally does not carry out blood and urine tests to check if victims have been spiked, and survivors are routinely being left with nowhere to turn.

       Bryony Beynon, one of the founders of the Good Night Out Campaign, also issued a warning about the prevalence of drink spiking at house parties.

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       “All forms of gendered violence are disproportionately perpetrated by someone who is already known to the victim, and yet the narratives in relation to spiking are still heavily focussed on so-called stranger danger,” she told The Independent.

       “Focusing on calling out individual behaviour and challenging attitudes that do not respect consent or autonomy are our biggest tools to interrupt the harm of spiking.

       “At house parties, drug and alcohol consumption is entirely unregulated and bottles may be accessible to all and frequently left unattended in e.g. a common space such as a kitchen, and of course people are likely to bring and share.”

       She argued while this in itself is “not inherently harmful”, it does nevertheless necessitate “caution and awareness”.

       “In the UK we still have a 'zero tolerance' approach to drugs which leaves many unaware of how to reduce harm when choosing to consume substances,” Ms Beynon added. “There needs to be much more non-abstinence based drugs education on what to look out for in terms of an overdose, whether as a result of drugs knowingly taken or not.”

       The Independent recently reported that one in nine women in the UK say they’ve had their drink spiked. Exclusive research by YouGov also found one in three women said they know someone who has been a victim of drink spiking. Four in 10 women said they do not think police officers would take them seriously if they reported their drink had been spiked.

       Meanwhile, the National Police Chiefs’ Council revealed around 200 drink spiking incidents have been reported across Britain in recent months. A number of police forces are looking into reports of people being spiked with injections, and three men have been arrested in Nottinghamshire and Lincoln on suspicions of spiking drinks or utilising injections.