AN East Lancashire teenager has been confirmed as the country’s first official victim of the newly-illegal party drug Mephedrone.

Yesterday a coroner issued a strong warning about the dangers of the street drug, also known as ‘bubble’ and ‘meow meow’, following 19-year-old Rebecca Cardwell’s death.

His warning came as police in Blackburn executed a raid this week in Grafton Street after claims the Class B drug was being sold from a house.

Burnley Coroner's Court heard Miss Cardwell died after taking a powder wrap of the drug with friends at a house in Hawley Street, Colne.

But the drug, which she and friends paid £25 for, had also been mixed with a small amount of two other party drugs and amphetamines, an inquest heard.

Miss Cardwell, of Coleridge Close, Colne, collapsed shortly afterwards and was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital.

She was later transferred to St James Hospital, in Leeds, when she suffered acute liver failure and died three days after taking the drug.

Mephedrone was reclassified as an illegal Class B drug, the same as cannabis and amphetamine, on April 16 after it was implicated in a number of deaths.

But the drug was later ruled out from being a contributory cause in the cases, leading to criticism at the speed it had been made illegal.

Recording an accidental verdict, East Lancashire Coroner Richard Taylor said he was satisfied that the teenager would not have realised the 'devastating' effects of the dose of 'bubble' which she took that evening.

Addressing her parents, he said: "I only hope that you may be able to take some solace from the hope that others may be dissuaded from taking these substances, which promise a euphoric result which is frequently, and quite often tragically, undelivered."

Eyewitness Russell Stansfield told the inquest he received a call from a friend, George Caldwell, to drive to Hawley Street on May 17.

Once he arrived he found a number of men in the street and he was asked to take a girl away from the property by one of those present.

Mr Stansfield said: "He said to me 'will you get this girl in the back of your car and take her around the corner?'"

But Mr Stansfield, after seeing Miss Cardwell, in a collapsed state, rang for an ambulance.

In a statement he said the police were also informed, which 'panicked' several men at the house, who immediately left the scene.

Scott McMurray told the court that five people each donated £5 for a £25 deal of 'bubble’ and his friend Matthew Hall went to buy the drugs.

The inquest heard that Miss Cardwell's parents, Glen Cardwell and Maxine Thompson, still had a number of unanswered questions regarding her death, mainly relating to an alleged delay of up to 80 minutes before an ambulance was called.

Consultant pathologist Dr Abdul Al-Dawoud, who conducted Miss Cardwell's post-mortem examination, said the levels of mephedrone in her system were more than three times that normally taken for recreational use.

Dr Al-Dawoud said the drug caused increased heart rate and blood pressure and could cause chest pains, breathing difficulties and occasionally fits and convulsions.

The pathologist said he also found levels of benzylpiperazine (BZP), trifluoromethylphenylpiperazine (TFMPP) and amphetamines in her body and gave the cause of death as the toxic effect of all four substances.

Following the inquest, police in Blackburn said they were cracking down on the drug, although nothing was found in this week's raid.

PC Gary Hennighan said: “Until quite recently it was legal and a lot of young people were taking it.

“Now it is illegal there is still some young people who want to carry on and as such there is a market for it.

"We received some tip-offs that that market was being supplied from the Mill Hill area."

“One of the first raids in the country was in Blackburn, hours after the reclassification in April.

"It was a success and we’ve had one or two cases of possession since.”

According to the latest Government figures there have been no UK deaths where mephedrone was a main cause.

Mephedrone facts

Mephedrone was reclassified as an illegal Class B drug – the same as cannabis and amphetamine – on April 16.

The former ‘legal high’ was banned after being linked to the deaths of two teenagers, but toxicology tests later showed they had not taken the drug.

One of the first mephedrone raids in the country took place in Blackburn – just hours after the reclassification.

The chemical substance was sold as plant fertiliser over the internet before it was outlawed.

The Lancashire Telegraph was able to buy a £15 snap bag of the drug in a Blackburn town centre shop before the ban.