The drug-taking lifestyle of a Canterbury busker has been revealed at the inquest into his death.

Joshua Lambert-Price, 22, was one of three men who died at a house in Wincheap in the same week after taking the opiate fentanyl, known on the street as China White.

He succumbed to the potent painkiller - said to be 100 times more powerful than heroin - just five days after mourning the death of his friend James Truscott from the same substance.

The hearing, on Wednesday, was told that Mr Lambert-Price, who performed regularly on the streets on Canterbury, was found dead alongside another friend, Max Martin at the property in Tudor Road on August 29.

The inquests of Mr Tustcott and Mr Martin have already taken place and concluded with their deaths being recorded as ‘drug related’.

Ayla Price - the girlfriend of musician Mr Lambert-Price - told assistant coroner James Dillion that he took a variety of drugs, including ketamine, LSD, cocaine, speed and cannabis, which she described as “standard party drugs”.

“He knew what he could handle and would never go over the top,” she said.

But Mr Lambert-Price fell victim to his lifestyle when his body was discovered in the attic flat with Mr Martin where he lived in Tudor Road on August 29.

A police investigation revealed evidence of drug use but no suspicious involvement of a third party.

A post mortem showed he had 24 mg of fentanyl in his blood when the starting point for a fatal level can be as low as 3mg. The cause of death was recorded as opiate toxicity.

The tragedy unfolded after Miss Price, who lives in Ramsgate, raised the alarm when Mr Lambert-Price failed to reply to her messages.

She asked a friend to call at the house to see if everything was alright.

But when that friend, Kevan Grove pushed the door open of the flat, he found Mr Lambert-Price lying in his back bed and Mr Martin slumped in a crumpled heap on the floor.

In a statement to the court he said: “They appeared to be dead. Both felt cold stiff and there were no signs of life. It was a hugely shocking experience for me.”

Paramedics were called but neither man could be revived.

Assistant coroner James Dillion concluded that Mr Lambert-Price’s death was also ‘drug-related’ from illicitly-obtained fentanyl.