A Winchester man died after taking a lethal cocktail of drugs and drink despite having everything to live for, an inquest heard.

Gavin Yates, 20, died after spending three days in intensive care at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital.

Winchester Coroners' Court heard that Mr Yates had collapsed in St Clement Street after taking a fatal drugs overdose on November 29 last year.

Witness Margaret Campbell MacFarlane, of St Clement Street, told how she had seen the pair exchange something as they walked.

She said: "As they moved the light caught something silvery that they passed between them. I believe it was a needle."

Accountant Mandy Kerley and a colleague found Mr Yates in the road next to his friend, 19-year-old Jamie Hogan.

She described how they had come across Mr Hogan in an agitated state, but had failed to rouse Mr Yates.

The emergency services were called and when police arrived at the scene, Hogan is said to have told PC David Edwards that they had shared a £20 bag of heroin that he had bought, shared a sheet of valium and drank three or four pints of lager.

A post-mortem by Dr Raid Al Talib, a consultant pathologist at the hospital, confirmed Mr Yates had high levels of morphine, diazepam and alcohol in his body at the time of his death.

The court also heard further medical evidence that suggested Mr Yates, formerly of Eversley Place in Stanmore and who had been working as a tyre fitter at Micheldever Tyres, had suffered from a history of drug abuse and depression.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Mid-Hampshire Deputy Coroner Simon Burge said: "He had everything to live for with a new promising relationship with his girlfriend, a job he thoroughly enjoyed and was doing well at."

"I hope this serves as a warning to other young people to resist the temptation because even one attempt can result in death and, of course, those who are left behind have a lifetime of regret."

Speaking after the inquest, Gavin's mother Lesley, of Eversley Place, said: "It's five months since it happened but it doesn't make it any easier, it makes it worse. This has devastated our whole family."

Jamie Hogan, 19, of no fixed address, has been charged with supplying Class A drugs. He has been released on bail and will appear before Basingstoke magistrates on May 6.