British man dies of ecstasy overdose

British police tonight warned of the dangers of taking the drug ecstasy after a man died from a suspected overdose.

Officers believe the 25-year-old, who was found slumped in a flat in Hull, had taken several of the tablets last night.

Police and ambulance crews discovered the man, who has not been named, at 2.45am in a poorly condition at an address in Princes Avenue. He died at the scene.

A Humberside Police spokesman said an investigation would centre on whether the ecstasy tablets had killed him.

“Inquiries suggest this man may have consumed a number of ecstasy tablets during Friday evening,” the spokesman said.

Figures published in 2002 revealed that ecstasy-related deaths in England and Wales doubled in just 12 months.

The number of deaths related to the drug was at least 40 in 2001, twice the total reported in 2000 and almost four times as many as in 1998.