A RYEDALE mother has said her son was 'neglected' by services, after he died of a drug overdose whilst living in supported accommodation.

Carl Adrian Allanson, a college student who was 25, was living in the Derwent Lodge accommodation on Church Street in Norton.

Mr Allanson died on December 14, 2015 after snorting heroin and mephedrone, an inquest into his death heard in Scarborough on Thursday.

The inquest heard that Mr Allanson and a fellow resident had acquired the drugs from a man in Norton the evening before. His body was discovered at 10.38am the next morning, when his mental health worker came for an appointment.

The mental health worker, Susan Simms, said in a statement to the inquest that Mr Allanson had had suicidal thoughts and panic attacks. She also said that Mr Allanson, who was born with blindness in one eye, had been volunteering with the Sight charity in Malton.

Mr Allanson's mother Sharon, addressing the inquest, said that her son had gone to stay in Derwent Lodge after a meeting with a crisis team, who said it would be "the best option". He'd been living there for eight months.

Lorraine Gould, senior housing options officer with Ryedale District Council, said: "We have a drugs policy. If people are known to be using they get warnings. We would refer them to substance misuse recovery services.

"There were five or six staff in over that weekend and they were all concerned about Carl."

Questioning the officer, Mrs Allanson pointed out that staff came on duty at 8.30am but Carl was not discovered until 10.38am. She asked why he wasn't checked on in that time.

Ms Gould said: "We're not a care home, it's homeless accommodation. It's not policy to check."

Mrs Allanson said: "We were led to believe that he was on two-hour observations. Carl had said that a security guard would come round and check that everyone was ok." She added that she felt her son had been "neglected".

Derwent Lodge is home for 14 people aged 16 and upwards. It is staffed 24 hours a day, with a midnight curfew, but residents can come and go as they please and are not "frisked" when entering or leaving.

When Derwent Lodge was opened in December 2013, it was described as "a safe haven for vulnerable people who need help to get their lives back on track".

A post-mortem examination of Mr Allanson by Dr David Scoones of James Cook Hospital revealed that the cause of death was heroin toxicity, with no other cause being identified.

Coroner Michael Oakley recorded a conclusion of misadventure.

Mr Oakley said that Carl was studying maths, English and psychology at Scarborough College, and had been worried about some upcoming exam results. Subsequent to his death, it was revealed that he had passed them.

Speaking after the inquest, Mrs Allanson said it was the first time her son had used the drug, and he'd had no tolerance of it.

"He wasn't that sort of person, he was in a bad place," she said. "He was a happy lad as a rule. He was much loved by his family."

She said that he had wanted to go abroad volunteering in South-East Asia in April, and issued a warning about heroin use. "This drug wrecks families. Anybody thinking about using it, please don't."