By RACHEL SPENCER

POLICE are warning of the dangers of the potentially fatal drug GHB after a man had to be transferred to Whiston Hospital having taking the substance.

He was found in a distressed state with a friend in a car on Longford Street on Saturday, and two women were found collapsed at a house in Hallwood Park in Runcorn with three children inside earlier the same day. All four were taken to hospital and have since been discharged.

Now police are urging people to steer clear of GHB or Gammahydroxybutyrate, which is not licensed for use in the UK but is readily available, and acts as a powerful acting depressant, affecting the central nervous system.

It is taken as a recreational drug, as an anaesthetic, and by body-builders to relax after training. It has also been linked to a number of date rape cases.

Det Insp John Chapman, of Warrington CID, said: "I would like to alert people of the obvious dangers of taking any substance where it is impossible to know its origin, content or its effects."

The drug comes in the form of a colourless fluid, known as Liquid Ecstasy, and police are also warning people to watch their drinks.

Insp Chapman stressed that as little is known about the effects of the chemical, mixing it with other drugs or alcohol could prove fatal.

He added: "The taking of this drug at the same time as taking other substances such as alcohol will exert an additional effect and exacerbate the result.

"Taking this substance is potentially fatal and I would urge people to be aware of these consequences."

Anyone with information about the circulation of GHB in Warrington can contact police on 652222 or Crimestoppers in confidence on 0800 555 111.