A MAN who collapsed and died outside Winchester's registry office two months ago had almost ten times the lethal dose of heroin substitute methadone in his system, a court has heard.

Long-term substance misuser Donald McCallum died on May 25 after consuming a lethal cocktail of drink and drugs.

An inquest heard how the 36-year-old, who had no fixed address, had met up with some friends outside the registry office on Station Hill on the afternoon of his death.

He had admitted to friends that he had been drinking and taking methadone, but he failed to tell them how much.

Witnesses reported seeing him fall over three times, before seemingly falling asleep on the pavement.

However when one of his friends, David Woodward, 32, also of no fixed abode, then went to check on him some time after his third fall, he noticed vomit around Mr McCallum's mouth and that his lips had gone blue, and he called for help.

An ambulance attended and rushed Mr McCallum to the nearby Royal Hampshire County Hospital, but doctors there were unable to revive him and he was certified dead shortly before 3pm.

A post-mortem showed he had 298 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood in his system - the drink-drive limit is 80mg per 100ml - while the same sample revealed 297 micrograms of methadone.

The inquest heard how research had shown a fatal dose of methadone could be as low as 30 micrograms, almost ten times less than the deceased had taken.

David Woodward made a statement at the time. He said: "I saw him coming towards me and he was clearly wasted. He said he had been drinking and that he had had about 50ml of methadone, but I thought he must have had more and was probably lying."

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Central Hampshire Deputy Coroner Simon Burge said: "I consider that all the evidence points towards a tragic accident."