A 29-YEAR-old died after taking a drug overdose in Hereford.

An inquest at Herefordshire Coroner's Court heard Lewis Humphreys of Mary Elizabeth Road, Ludlow died at Hereford County Hospital.

On October 8 last year two ambulance crews were called to Green Street in St James at around 8.30pm.

Paramedics carried out CPR and Mr Humphreys was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

A toxicology report revealed he had high levels of the opiate fentanyl and acetylfentanyl in his system. He also had ketamine in his system, but the level was unlikely to contribute to his death.

He also had MDPT in his system, which is a new drug of abuse and there is limited knowledge of its toxicity. It is a stimulant drug which is similar to fentanyl.

The cause of death was recorded as an overdose of fentanyl and acetylfentanyl.

The inquest heard Mr Humphreys started taking ketamine at the age of 16.

On October 8 Mr Humphreys had caught the train and then went to the house in Hereford where his friend, Adam Craddock, lived.

Mr Craddock said he had known Mr Humphreys for three years and he would sometimes come to his house and they would catch-up.

Mr Craddock said he would sometimes let Mr Humphreys take ketamine in his bedroom but that he did not like it.

He said Mr Humphreys arrived at 8.10pm and they had chatted before Mr Craddock went downstairs. When he returned about eight minutes later he found an unresponsive Mr Humphreys and he called an ambulance and carried out CPR.

When paramedics arrived they found a bag of white powder in the room, which was later found to be fentanyl.

Mr Craddock said he did not take drugs, and police said no other drugs were found in his bedroom. Mr Craddock described his shock at finding his friend and said he did not see him take drugs on the day.

Coroner Mark Bricknell recorded a drug related death.