A coroner has warned against taking a party drug which caused the death of two women.

Rachel Clayton, 34, and Emma Speed, 30, were found dead on April 7 last year after consuming Paramethoxyamphetamine (PMA).

Their bodies were discovered at Rachel’s home on Crompton Road, Macclesfield, by friends, an inquest at Macclesfield Town Hall heard.

Recording a conclusion of death by misadventure, Nicholas Rheinberg, coroner for Cheshire, said he believed the drug was taken by mistake.

He said: “It is highly likely they consumed PMA under false belief if was MDMA, or Ecstasy.

“One of the huge dangers of taking drugs is that you don’t know what the contents are.”

PMA has now caused three deaths in Macclesfield. Last year an inquest into the death of Simon Flack, 34, who died in February 2013, found that he overdosed on PMA after taking it with other drugs.

The inquest on Monday heard Miss Clayton and Miss Speed, who had been in a relationship for almost a year, were last seen alive on April 5 after spending the evening with friends.

When neither women returned calls or text messages throughout the weekend friends Neil and Laura Blain, and Darren Oxley, who had a spare key, went to Miss Clayton’s house and discovered their bodies on the living room floor.

Police found pink tablets with as well as cocaine and cannabis at the house.

Detective Constable Rathbone, from Cheshire Police, told the inquest that the investigation failed to trace the supplier of the PMA.

An autopsy report found high levels amounts of PMA, amphetamine, and traces of the party drugs Benzylpiperazine (BZB) and Trifluoromethylphenylpiperazine (TFMPP) in the blood of Miss Speed and Miss Clayton.

Dr Simon Elliott, a toxicologist and drug expert, told the inquest there had been 16 deaths from PMA in the UK within the last three years.

He said: “PMA is a very similar drug to MDMA, but the affects are delayed. What we find is regular users of Ecstasy get a false sense of security, think its a dud and take another and another. Suddenly the affects overcome the individual.”

In statements released after the hearing Miss Clayton’s family described Rachel as ‘caring and loving’.

The family of Miss Speed, who lived on Davies Street in Macclesfield, said she had left ‘a massive hole’ in their hearts.