A ROUGH sleeper who died in a Taunton car park on Boxing Day had alcohol and synthetic drugs in his system, an inquest heard.

Allan Alexander, 51, of Bishop's Lydeard, who was known as 'Scotch Allan', was found unresponsive in a multi-storey car park in High Street on December 26 last year.

Emergency services attempted to save Mr Alexander but sadly he was confirmed dead at Musgrove Park Hospital.

Senior coroner Tony Williams read a toxicology report from Dr John Oxley, which said Mr Alexander was nearly three times over the drink drive limit. He also had Diazepam and synthetic cannabinoids in his system at the time of his death.

READ MORE: Rough sleeper 'Scotch' Alan dies in High Street Car Park, Taunton

In the report, Dr Oxley said synthetic cannabinoids metabolise in the body as soon as they are taken so it is difficult to know how much they contributed to Mr Alexander’s death.

He said doctors still have limited knowledge about the effect synthetic drugs can have on the body or their toxicity, but reports suggest they can cause heart problems.

The inquest heard reports from South Western Ambulance Service which said Mr Alexander had been admitted to Musgrove Park Hospital with drug-related illness on a number of occasions just a few days before his death. He even discharged himself from the hospital's intensive care unit.

The coroner then read a report from Avon and Somerset Police which said a group of three people were in the car park on Boxing Day and were alerted when someone said Mr Alexander was not responsive.

The group told police they started to perform CPR on Mr Alexander and called the emergency services for help.

They said a homeless man with Mr Alexander told them they had taken Spice.

When concluding the inquest, senior coroner Tony Williams, said: "The evidence has not fully disclosed a cause of death or the means by which the cause of death arose."