Three teenage boys arrested on suspicion of supplying drugs in connection with death of 16-year-old schoolgirl Ellie Jones

Three teeange boys have been arrested on suspicion of supplying drugs in connection with the death of a 16-year-old schoolgirl who is thought to have taken an illegal substance.

Ellie Jones, 16, collapsed with breathing difficulties at the home of a friend in Warrington, Cheshire, during the early hours of Saturday and died in hospital shortly afterwards.

Her death, which came before she was due to sit her GCSE exams this week, brought a warning from police about the dangers of illegal drugs circulating in the area. Detectives are seeking to piece together the teenager’s movements in the hours before her death.

The three 16-year-old boys, who are from the Warrington area, were arrested on suspicion of supplying drugs and perverting the course of justice in connection with Ellie’s death.

Paramedics were called to a terraced house in Densham Avenue, Warrington, at about 3.30am after arriving earlier in the evening with around four friends. After receiving treatment at the scene she was taken to the town’s hospital but died shortly before 5am.

A post mortem examination failed to pinpoint a cause of death but police said they were investigating suggestions that the teenager had taken a drug before her collapse. On her Twitter page, Ellie had listed her interests as “ eyelashes, tan and getting high”.

Friends said they were devastated at the death of the schoolgirl ahead of a planned vigil later this week. Tributes posted on Twitter included photographs of Ellie camping during sleepovers.

One friend wrote: “Don’t think I ever saw her around school without a smile on her face.” Another said: “Elly Jones made people laugh, she made people smile.”