Police cocaine torches under fire

Major concerns have been raised about the use of police drug torches to catch people who having been taking cocaine - after an investigation showed they don't always work.

The "cocaine torch", which uses ultra-violet rays, lights up green if traces of the drug are found around people's noses.

Police in Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Cumbria and North Staffordshire use the torches in pubs and clubs, often when people are queuing up to enter.

But a BBC investigation found the torches failed to illuminate 10 random cocaine samples, bringing into question their usefulness for police.

An expert also said make-up and or skin cream could cause the torch to light up green.

Tony Payne, chief executive of the Federation of Licensed Victuallers Associations, has hit out at use of the torches.

"It's frightening we've got something that's being used by police, but isn't effective for the job," he said. "You would have thought it would have been checked out."

Claudia Rubin, of drug's charity Release, said the police were potentially infringing people's human rights, it was an "invasion of privacy" and the wrong way to tackle drugs.

However, many of the police forces involved have defended their use, claiming they are a useful deterrent against people using illegal drugs.

JNE Marketing, the company which sells the torches, only advertises them as being able to detect residues of crack cocaine and crack pipes, not street cocaine.