A suspected heroin overdose left a man fighting for his life in Chippenham High Street on Thursday afternoon.

Shoppers watched on in horror as the middle-aged, tattooed man collapsed to the ground outside the Wilkinson and British Heart Foundation stores at around 5pm.

Local police officers carried out CPR on the man with no success as passersby crowded around. Paramedics arrived quickly to take over and within minutes the man had his shirt ripped off and he was stretchered into an ambulance and taken to hospital with blue lights.

One shopper, who watched the scene unfold from outside Wilkinson, said: "It is really shocking. It is very unpleasant to see this sort of thing happening. The man just collapsed and his arms were all blue and black. It is a real shame to see how drugs can take a hold of someone like this."