WILTSHIRE Police have reminded the public of the danger of taking legal highs after police and paramedics were called to the aid of a man found behaving peculiarly after he had taken psychoactive substances.

North Swindon Police posted on Facebook: "A few weeks ago local cops were called to Sevenfields between Abbey Meads and Greenmeadow, where worried dog-walkers found a man who was talking nonsense and desperately stuffing grass and plants in his mouth.

"Not long ago officers were called to a man stripping off his clothes in the street, people thought it was part of a silly bet, but actually he was burning up and desperately trying to cool down.

"Police and paramedics often deal with people who are found violently sick, deeply paranoid , suffering frightening heart palpitations or who’ve suddenly blacked out.

"So are all these people drug addicts? No – they all took legal highs or suspicious drugs which they purchased legitimately online.

"They haven’t broken the law, but they have taken up valuable police and ambulance resources, tied up hospital beds and most concerning of all put themselves at great risk.

"So if it’s legal why do the police care? Well our first job is to protect life and keep people safe, it’s usually us who will be the first on scene when things go wrong. Often people who are high break the law or are anti-social, and frequently those ‘legal’ highs aren’t legal after all."

A spokesman said: "“The problem is that people think that because it’s legal it must be legitimate, and therefore safe but it’s simply not the case.

“For every type of illegal drug you can think of there is probably a ‘fake’ version being sold legally by unscrupulous people who just want to make money. They don’t care if you’re snorting salt, baby powder, toilet cleaner, kettle de-scaler or other dodgy substances.

"Because the legal highs change so often to stay ahead of the law, and they're not tested on humans, when people do end up in hospital the doctors also have no idea what they are dealing with.”