New figures from police have shown the amount of spiking incidents in Scotland has doubled in the last year

A campaign has been created to raise awareness of drink spiking in Scottish bars and clubs.

Girls Against Spiking aims to highlight a rise in people being drugged while out, and move the blame away from victims.

New figures show that incidents investigated by Police Scotland have almost doubled in the last year, from 19 to 34.

Last year, there were 179 drink-spiking incidents across the UK reported to police, with seven out of 10 cases involving women.

"There is a lot of victim-shaming where people are told they drank too much or are just being dramatic," said campaigner Cara Teven, who founded Girls Against Spiking after it happened to a close friend.

Teven has won the backing of Police Scotland for her campaign to get pubs and clubs to offer drinks with lids to act as a deterrent to anyone thinking of spiking drinks with drugs such as GHB and Rohypnol. The University of Strathclyde has become the first university to get onboard with the campaign.

"Students are most vulnerable to spiking, having just gone to university and not having much experience of going out,” Teven said.

"I'd like to start in universities and then move into private venues like nightclubs,"

Rachel Adamson, of safety campaign group Zero Tolerance, said: “The increase is worrying. Women often find it hard to report sexual assaults.

“They are worried they will not be believed or that they will not be taken seriously – especially if they were drinking before the assault.”

Police Scotland have made 27 arrests out of the 71 cases reported to them so far in the last 30 months.

Detective Inspector Julie Marshall said: “We take all reports of these crimes seriously. Our advice would be to never leave your drink unattended, even if you’re turning away for a few seconds, and never accept a drink from a stranger.

“If you think your drink has been spiked, seek medical attention immediately, then contact police.”