A Swindon man collapsed and died after drinking several cans of strong Kronenbourg 1664 lager and then taking drugs, an inquest was told.

Joseph Dixon, 38, was more than three times over the drink-drive limit and had also taken crack cocaine and heroin.

Recording a verdict of alcohol and drug toxicity, senior coroner David Ridley said the evidence was clear that Mr Dixon had died after collapsing into a coma from which he never regained consciousness.

The inquest in Salisbury heard on Friday (June 2) that Mr Dixon and a friend Graham Willans had shared a bottle of rose wine and had drunk several cans of strong Kronenbourg lager before returning home.

Mr Dixon, who lived in Stratton, then took 0.1 grams of heroin and 0.3 grams of crack cocaine, which he smoked.

His friend, Mr Willans, said in a statement to police that Joe seemed fine when he took the drugs but about half an hour later said he “felt unwell” and then collapsed.

His friend attempted mouth-to-mouth resuscitation before calling paramedics about half an hour after Mr Dixon had collapsed. During the panicked 999 call he urged the emergency services to “hurry up, I think he is dead”.

Paramedics tried to save Mr Dixon by carrying out CPR but he never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead at 4.58pm on Monday, August 8 last year at his home in Coronel Close, Swindon.

The inquest was told Mr Dixon had a history of drug and alcohol problems stretching back to 2010 when there was a reference to methadone dependency in his medical records.

He sought treatment in 2015 for alcohol issues and in 2016 was treated for alcohol hepatitis. He had also been admitted to hospital after suffering seizures following alcohol withdrawal and for treatment to liver and kidney problems.

On the day he died, the inquest heard that his levels showed 293 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood - 3.7 times over the legal drink-driving limit of 80 - plus 0.125mg/100ml of morphine.

Mr Ridley said the high alcohol and drug toxicity levels would have led to respiratory depression, causing him to fall into the coma from which he never recovered.

Police later found traces of white powder and syringes in Mr Dixon’s home, as well as empty bottles of alcohol.

But police found no signs of disorder, a struggle or defence wound injuries, indicating that the drug and alcohol taking was voluntary, the coroner said.