A 17-year-old girl who attended a drum and bass festival at Dreamland died after taking ecstasy which she may have bought in Kent days earlier, an inquest has heard.

Emily Stokes collapsed at the Margate amusement park’s Worried About Henry event on June 29 before being taken to the QEQM Hospital in the town where she later died.

She became seriously unwell on the same evening 21 other teenagers at the same gig were admitted to hospital with drug-related symptoms on June 29.

Opening the inquest at Oakwood House, Maidstone, on Friday a coroner said Emily died from MDMA toxicity – the active component of ecstasy.

Coroner Katrina Hepburn said: “Emily attended the Worried About Henry drum and bass festival at Dreamland Margate.

“At the event, Emily consumed drugs which she might have bought in Canterbury in the days prior.”

Explaining how Emily continued dancing when her friends became tired, the coroner continued: “She began to feel unwell and went to the medical tent.”

With her condition deteriorating she was taken by ambulance to the QEQM, where she suffered a cardiac arrest and could not be revived, the court heard.

“A post-mortem concluded her cause of death as MDMA toxicity,” the coroner said.

The condition can typically cause users to feel uncomfortably hot, suffer nausea, vomiting, excessive thirst, confusion, agitation, muscle spasms, increased heart rate and loss of consciousness.

Emily’s sister Megan Stokes previously paid tribute to the teen and set up a fundraiser for funeral costs, which received donations worth £4,000.

She said: “Emily was the kindest person you could ever meet.

“She was so full of life and to have her taken away so suddenly at just 17 years old has completely broken me.”

The inquest was adjourned for a pre-inquest review to be held on November 27.

The theme park came under intense scrutiny after Emily’s death.

A police application for a licence review revealed how the force declared a major incident after a number of people under 18 were taken to hospital that day, with the youngest aged 15.

Thanet District Council’s (TDC) licensing sub-committee allowed the venue to continue to hold big music events but with some strict conditions.

They included the venue holding a monthly safety advisory group meeting and following risk assessment procedures.

It was also told to share a copy of its drug policy with police and restrict high-risk events to people over 18.

Conditions state security and stewarding staff must receive full training on their duties and relevant staff are trained in age verification.

Qualified paramedics and trained emergency staff are to be on-site at every outdoor music event during any high-risk indoor music events, documents said.

A further condition said sound management reports must also be made available to environmental health.

A spokesman for the authority said councillors agreed to amend the licence to include all agreed conditions and added a further condition that event management must also cover boundary security at the venue.

During the review, Dreamland owner Sands Heritage Ltd revealed CCTV showed Emily pulling out a bag of what appeared to be pills, before taking one and passing more to two friends.

Bosses argued they were not the blame for her death, instead pointing the finger at the “scourge of drugs on society”.

They added: “It is a fair inference that a seriously harmful batch was in circulation in Margate or further afield on the day of the event.”