'Safe' drug faces ban after deaths

A so-called safe alternative to ketamine which has been linked to two deaths could be banned.

Methoxetamine, or mexxy, has been referred to the Government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in an effort to impose a temporary banning order.

It follows concerns that two people found dead in Leicestershire last month may have taken some form of the drug.

Police warned people not to take mexxy, which is sold as a safe alternative to the class C drug ketamine, after a 59-year-old woman and a 32-year-old man were found dead in Leicester and Melton Mowbray.