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
Their presence, she explains, is predictable. ‘At every event there’s always a group outside… the bigger the event, the bigger the crowd waiting.’
‘The worst I’ve experienced was actually in London. Clean-up crew is a whole different ball game there. They come with Mercedes, Bentleys, and Range Rovers, and none of them are uni students. They are older men, some even in their 40s.’
Natalie has been approached several times and reveals the extent certain men will go. ‘They’re very, very persistent. They’ll offer you everything. I’ve been promised holidays, free flights, all sorts. They take it to the max just to get you home.’
‘Each one targets a specific girl’
The student also described how these groups deliberately isolate women to increase their control. ‘If you’re in a group of four girls and four men approach you, each one targets a specific girl. If one girl then decides to go off to his house, a divide is created,’ Natalie explains.
She recalled one night that has stuck with her since. ‘One girl was really, really drunk; she couldn’t even stand. This guy managed to get her to his car, she was sitting in the back seat, and her friends were saying, “Please, can you let her go? She’s not capable of making her own decisions.” The guy who owned the car was giving her balloon after balloon [of Nitrous Oxide]. She was already visibly intoxicated. I’ve seen some very bad situations.’
When asked what protocols were in place to protect students from this type of behaviour, a spokesperson from Portsmouth University told Metro: ‘We have a number of safety initiatives to help students enjoy a safe night out that we promote throughout the year. In addition, our Report & Support tool enables students to raise concerns, so that we can take appropriate action and develop proactive initiatives.’
However, Natalie says her peers are reluctant to report these incidents as clean-up crew culture, for the most part, has become normalised online.
‘For men, it’s seen as just a fun thing to do. But for girls, it’s not safe at all. If you’re not with a good bunch of friends that are looking after you, it can go left really quickly.’
Viral vultures
While there are some posts warning students about dangers of clean-up crews, TikTok and Snapchat are also flooded with clips showing the men at work, circling nightlife hotspots in their cars.
In several videos, young women can be seen chatting through tinted windows before hopping into the passenger seat. One clip captioned ‘clean up crew getting ready to take all the 1st years home after a motive’ has been liked by thousands.
Comment sections are filled with men defending the practice. ‘There’s no supply without demand,’ one wrote. Another added: ‘They are waiting to get swept.’ Others suggest it’s a fair exchange: ‘Clean-up crews are glorified Uber drivers. Girls don’t want to pay for a cab; they want a dashboard snap.’
Hired for the hunt
Cardiff University student Kae shared a video on TikTok during freshers in September, claiming local clean-up crews had upped their game after spotting a Ferrari loitering around campus.
The cars themselves, often financed or even rented just for the night, are a major part of the culture. ‘There’s a group of people known to finance cars,’ Kae explains. ‘Mercedes are the most popular. When they go to uni events, they finance those cars specifically and then go out to do their thing.’
Competitiveness also plays a role. ‘It happens in pretty much every uni city that has a good nightlife. Some of them are students themselves, others are locals. If it’s a big event that everyone knows about, in a city like Leicester or Birmingham, then it’s very competitive.
‘There’s always a Mercedes or BMW outside in Cardiff,’ adds Kae. ‘They usually appear around 11pm and stick around until 2am, when most students are spilling out of clubs and looking for a way home.’
For some students, the whole thing is a running joke. ‘A lot of people laugh about it. It’s a funny thing to them,’ he admits. ‘It’s mostly just sweet talk, to be honest. Some [men] are very straight up, they’re like, “Yo, do you want a lift home?” When [girls] see a flashy black BMW or Audi, they’re more likely to get in it… sometimes it’s that easy.’
