Revellers in Calne were surprised to be searched by a furry member of the police force as officers went out on patrol with a sniffer dog on Friday evening.

A special operation run jointly with Calne police and dog handler Marie Poole targeted pubs in the town in a bid to crack down on drugs use.

Officers were joined by passive drugs search dog Griffin, whose role was to sniff out any controlled substances, and two people were given fixed penalty notices for carrying cannabis.

Sgt Phil Connor said: “We arranged for as many of the Calne staff to be on duty at the same time as possible and we worked closely with dog handler Marie Poole during the evening.

“Griffin's role was to move among the crowd, and if and when he smelled drugs on the person, he indicated it to the handler.

“We then had the grounds to search them.”

Officers armed with the 18-month-old cocker spaniel visited the Wheatsheaf, The King’s Arms and the Liberal Club over a period of three hours, and also searched groups of people in the High Street.

Sgt Connor said: “The dog indicated two people who were in possession of cannabis resin. As it was a small amount for personal use they were fined £80 and the drugs were seized.

“Word soon got around that we were in town with the dog and everyone seemed to be supportive of the operation.

“We have had no complaints from anyone, including the people who were found with drugs.

“The operation was a huge success and I am sure we will be doing this again.

“There were possibly some people who saw the dog or heard that we were in town and decided to stay away, which is a positive thing.”

Griffin is an 18-month-old cocker spaniel who qualified as a passive drugs search dog in March.

He was trained at the British Transport Police dog school and is the only drugs dog with Wiltshire Police.

Sgt Steve Jones, of the Wiltshire Police Dog Section, said: “Griffin is a great asset as he is trained to scan people for controlled substances. “He will scan groups of people either as they come through the foyer area of a pub or club, or just groups of people walking past.”