The ‘clean-up crews’ targeting vulnerable university students after dark

As first years spill out of clubs in the early hours, relishing their newfound freedom, sleek cars sit idling just beyond the bouncers and barriers.

Behind the wheel are men who aren’t there to party; they’re there to pick up. Known as the clean-up crew, they’ve become a troubling fixture of the UK’s student nightlife scene.

The term, circulating widely on social media, refers to groups of men who linger outside nightclubs, bars, and even concerts, targeting young women as they leave, often preying on those who are drunk or trying to find their way back to campus.

‘They don’t actually go to the club event, they just come when it finishes, wait around outside to talk to girls and give them drugs and all sorts,’ Natalie, a Portsmouth University student, tells Metro.

Their presence, she e