A Brit who has lived in Benidorm for seven years issued a “serious warning” to visitors after a run-in with the police. Harry Tokky got stopped and searched by police as he was filming content live for his viral TikTok channel in what he called a “very strange” experience.

The TikToker said he was told to put his phone away, which was all caught as he was broadcasting live, before he complied with police. He urged Brits to be careful and safe in Benidorm, a popular tourist spot, which reported the second-highest drug trafficking rates in Alicante last year.

In a video posted three days ago, he warned: “Guys this is a serious warning for anyone coming to Benidorm. What just happened to me has never happened in Benidorm before.”

“The police came up to me and said ‘random search turn your phone off right now’, and they went and searched me for stuff that you shouldn’t have.

“They took everything out of my pockets, they checked everything, they even checked to see if I have holes in my pockets. It was very strange. I’ve never had that before, so if you’re coming to Benidorm make sure you’re extra safe, extra careful.”

Harry advised that police have the power to stop and search, and he claimed you cannot refuse, otherwise you could be arrested.

In the UK, you cannot refuse stop and searches if police have ‘reasonable grounds’ to suspect you’re carrying illegal drugs, a weapon, stolen property, or something which could be used to commit a crime, such as a crowbar.

A lot of people were happy about the checks, with one user responding: “Good action in order to keep security and a Safe Benidorm.”

Data from the Ministerio del Interior showed Benidorm had the second highest number of drug trafficking cases in the region of Alicante last year, at 171, behind the city of Alicante with 352, which has a much larger population.

Another visitor, Cameron Gobey, said he had the same experience replying to Harry: “I was in Benidorm last week and I was randomly checked along with my cousin.”

Another user claimed they had a very positive experience: “That happened to me in Alicante, when they finished searching me I ask for a photograph of us all together lol I know, bumped into one of the cops in a bar and he bought me few pints.”