A MAN died in a chair at the foot of his friend's bed at least 24 hours before his friend noticed, an inquest heard.

The inquest, held at the Isle of Wight Coroner's Court on Wednesday, heard Paul Bird, 47, of no fixed address, had been staying at his friend's Newport flat.

When the friend realised what had happened, he tried to resuscitate Mr Bird before calling the police at 11am on December 6, last year.

Coroner Caroline Sumeray said: "It is an extraordinary situation that he had not noticed this man had not moved at all in at least 24 hours."

The court heard Mr Bird had a history of drug abuse. The cause of death was cardiorespiratory failure, attributed to his drug use.

Mrs Sumeray said: "This death, on the balance of probability is likely to be drugs related, so that is what I will conclude."