A devastated family have issued a legal high warning after a young clubber died after taking a new designer drug FIVE times more powerful than heroin.

Elvis Snelson, 29, was found collapsed in his room at a Manchester hotel after a night-out during the Pride festival.

And an inquest heard his death was caused by an overdose of the substance, acetylfentanyl.

The drug - which is a derivative of super-strength painkiller Fentanyl given to cancer patients - has been used as a ‘legal high’ since around 2014.

The hearing was told the drug, which is usually found in powder form, is more potent than heroin, methadone and morphine.

And a coroner said she was 'astonished' to learn it was not a controlled substance and that she would be writing to the government to ask for a review into whether it should be banned.

Elvis’s family now say they hope his tragic death will act as a warning to others.

Tragedy struck after the store manager from Handforth, near Wilmslow, had gone out with friends on the night of Wednesday, August 27, as visitors flooded into the city for the annual Pride celebrations.

He had been partying at the G-A-Y nightclub before heading to the Le Ville hotel on Canal Street with his pal Amreen Abbas and two friends they had made on the way.

The hearing was told Elvis had taken cocaine earlier in the night. He later went back out to the AXM nightclub with one of the men they had met, Dimitar Lilkov.

He told the court he saw Elvis being offered a cigarette by a homeless man close to the club, which he said appeared to have some powder in it, as well as tobacco and which he 'took two good drags off'.

He fell to the floor and appeared to be 'out of it' and 'stopped making sense' the hearing was told.

Manchester Area Coroner Fiona Borrill said this may have been the moment the clubber ingested the lethal drug, though no one could be entirely sure.

She also said it was unclear if he did so deliberately or inadvertently.

Miss Abbas and Mr Lilkov said Elvis, who was a supervisor at a coffee shop, soon came round and was talking as he got to his feet and was taken back to the hotel.

The alarm was only raised in the morning when two had left the hotel room they were sharing but Elvis failed to rise, with Miss Abbas ringing the hotel and asking them to check on him.

He was found unresponsive by hotel staff who let themselves into his room at around 11am and they immediately rang 999 and began CPR.

He was rushed to the Manchester Royal Infirmary by ambulance but attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful and he was declared dead at around 12.35pm.

Coroner Borrill said it was not clear at what point during the night or the morning he lost consciousness and he could not necessarily been saved if he’d found earlier.

She said she was ‘extremely concerned’ about recreational use of the drug and that she would write to the Department of Health to raise her concerns.

Giving a conclusion that the death was drug-related, she added: “This drug is a new-ish designer drug and legal high. It’s difficult to know exactly when and how the drug was taken.

“But this drug is an opioid analgesic and I was shocked to learn that is indeed a 'legal high'.

“It is obvious that toxicity can occur even at very low levels which tragically has been the case here. And I am extremely concerned that there could be future fatalities.”

Speaking after the hearing at Manchester Town Hall, Elvis's brother Adrian Snelson said: "Me and his mother miss him so much.

"Knowing my brother, he would not of known the dangers or even what he had taken that night.

"This is a real cause for concern.

"I only hope that his death will not be in vain and will raise awareness of the dangers of so called 'legal highs'.

"If others are more vigilant as a result then lives could be saved and loved ones spared the devastation and heartache we have had to suffer."