Worthing bar has 'much stricter entry policy' amid reports of knives on streets

Sussex Police said officers have seized 14 weapons, made 24 arrests, and conducted 70 stop searches across the county over the last three weeks, as part of an operation dedicated to tackling knife crime and serious violence in the summer months.

As part of this, a ‘high-visibility knife arch operation’ was carried out at Manuka Bar in Worthing ‘following a number of incidents involving weapons’, Sussex Police said.

A spokesperson added: “Walking through the knife arch was a condition of entry and although no weapons were recovered, Class B drugs were seized and dealt with via community resolution.”

Manuka Bar said issues with weapons and anti-social behaviour relate to the whole Portland Road and Shelly Road area – rather than the venue itself.

A spokesperson said: “We are working very closely with Sussex Police to keep our staff, our guests and our local community safe.

“Since the increase in local anti-social behaviour, we have increased our SIA door staff numbers to four on duty on the weekends and two on duty for every other day of the week.

“We have also implemented a much stricter entry policy. This includes searches, metal detection wands and the purchase of a high end ID scanner entry system that communicates with venues nationwide.

"For example, if someone had caused a violent incident in Liverpool, the system would alert us upon scanning their ID, so we can refuse entry and communicate this information with other local venues to keep everyone safer.

“We’re very proud of our door staff and team for stepping up and working hard together to keep us all safe. It was nice to receive an email from one of the officers who attended the scene of an incident at the end of Portland Road in July the next morning.”