UNION chiefs have called on the Town Hall to stop random drug tests on employees after two men working for testing firm Randox were arrested.

Islington Council recently awarded Randox Testing Services a contract to test employees in “safety critical” posts after a pilot in the Street Environment Services (SES) department.

All employees in “safety critical” posts are set to be regularly tested from the start of next month.

This week it emerged that two employees working for Randox in its Manchester laboratory had been arrested.

The firm, based in Northern Ireland, said the investigation centres on the “manipulation of quality control data, which supports test results”. Police chiefs say 484 cases handled by the firm since November 2015 may have been affected.

In a letter to Islington Council’s chief executive Lesley Searey, Islington UNISON branch secretary Jane Doolan said the contract raised questions about the results of Islington’s pilot scheme. High levels of cocaine use were said to be found and an employee was dismissed after testing positive.

Ms Doolan added: “We believe that those tests that took place as part of the pilot should be independently reviewed and all current testing in SES cease with immediate effect.

“This includes both random and for cause. Our members and indeed staff generally have no confidence in this process.”