Potentially deadly fake ecstasy worth £2.5m was seized in a police drugs raid.

About 100kg of benzylpiperazine - a legal high the Government wants to outlaw - was discovered in a Portslade garage.

Police fear the drug, which is known as BZP and commonly sold as under the guise of ecstasy, could pose health risks to clubbers who take bigger doses in the hope of achieving the hit of a single real ecstasy dose.

Three raids were carried out in Brighton and Hove on Friday by Sussex Police’s serious and organised crime unit.

Officers seized 2kg of cocaine, worth over £100,000 on the street.

They also found 100kg of chemicals, mainly BZP, in a garage in Deacons Drive, which they said had been turned into a drugs factory.

Most of the BZP was in 25kg drums imported from China for a few hundred dollars a time.

Medics describe the effects of BZP as similar to amphetamines.

After Friday’s raids, two men were charged with possessing the BZP with intent to commit fraud.

Michael Randall, 38, of Deacons Drive, Portslade, was charged with possession of cocaine with intent to supply. He was also charged under the Fraud Act with possessing the chemicals for the purpose of fraud.

He appeared at Brighton Magistrate’s Court on Saturday October 10 and was remanded in custody until October 19; David Green, 34, of London Rd, Brighton, was charged with the Fraud Act offence and bailed until a hearing at the same court on October 23.

A 23-year old man, also from Brighton, was bailed without charge while police investigate further.

Anyone with information relating to this investigation is invited to call Sussex Police, in confidence and quote serial number 763 of October 9 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

For information from FRANK about drugs visit www.talktofrank.com or call 0800 776600.