STREET drugs being sold as Valium tablets have been linked to an “unprecedented” number of fatal overdoses in Glasgow.

Health chiefs fear that “street Valium”, also known as “street blues” may be connected to a sharp rise in the number of drug deaths in the city. They say it is impossible for users to know what drug they are actually taking.

There was a 43% rise in the number of people who died of drugs overdoses in January to October last year, compared with the same period in 2017.

An increasing number of people were also treated for non-fatal overdoses at hospitals and by crisis services across the city, they said.

Reported use of Naloxone, a drug that can reverse the effects of an opiate overdose, has also increased.

Saket Priyadarshi, associate medical director at NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde addiction services, said he was “very concerned”.

He said: “When people buy street blues, they do not know what is in the pills. The quality and dosage can be very variable. People might think they are taking diazepam but it may be other much more potent benzodiazepines.

“Although final toxicology is not yet available on the recent deaths in Glasgow, all the evidence suggests that the use of street blues is associated with the worrying trend of increasing drug-related deaths.”

Susanne Millar, chair of Glasgow’s Alcohol & Drug Partnership, said: “People are dicing with death by taking this drug, particularly if it is mixed with alcohol and other drugs. Warnings have been issued to people by homelessness and addictions services but, sadly, dealers are targeting the most vulnerable.”