A nightclub in Bournemouth was evacuated in the early hours of Saturday morning after a canister of suspected teargas was released.
As many as 40 people suffering from sickness, coughing fits and itchy eyes were treated at the scene by paramedics after the CS spray was apparently released at the Cameo club. One person was taken to hospital as a precaution.
Officers who were called to the incident in Fir Vale Road at 2am on Saturday said the clubbers, many of whom were freshers, complained of shortness of breath and stinging eyes.
A Dorset police spokeswoman said that an “irritant, possibly CS spray” had been sprayed in the club.
She added: “Following a decision by management of the premises to evacuate, around 40 people were treated by the ambulance service for minor effects.”
Multimedia journalist Josh Wilde posted a video on Twitter of the scenes outside the club and said witnesses had told him that something, believed to be a canister, was dropped on the floor inside before everyone started coughing.
The force said officers had searched the nightclub and found no evidence of any chemical or noxious substance which posed a continuing risk to the public.
Pictures on social media show crowds of clubbers gathered in the street outside as police and ambulances attended the scene.
Rapper Yungen had been performing at the club as part of an event to mark university freshers’ week.
He said he had suffered from sickness and later wrote on Twitter:
The investigation into the incident is continuing.