LETHAL super-strength ecstasy pills were found by police as they swept the floors of Glasgow nightclubs.

Today the Evening Times can expose the dangerous cocktails of new compounds in the "party pills" which are almost SIX times stronger than usual ecstasy.

Toxic chemical PMA - nicknamed Dr Death - has raised alarm among medical chiefs after it was discovered when the police searched the nightclubs.

The drugs were found when officers swept the floors of clubs after closing time and sifted through what had been collected.

More than 20 different pills have been collected during the past nine months and sent to Glasgow University's Forensic Medicine and Science unit for analysis.

And the results have laid bare the true extent of deadly mix of substances to create "ecstasy" - and the variety of drug MDMA concentration in each pill.

Tests on Red Mortal Kombat pills revealed they had the highest MDMA content -188mg - among the batch analysed. This compares to other tablets which had 33mg of MDMA.

The pill hit the headlines earlier this year when it was linked to the death of 17-year-old Regane MacColl who fell ill in Glasgow's Arches nightclub.

One yellow pill - dubbed Rockstar - tested after being found during the police search of the city nightclubs contained a deadly mix of PMA, PMMA, and caffeine.

Chief Inspector Mark Sutherland, who is in charge of policing the majority of Glasgow's nightclubs, believes officers must continue to be "pro-active" in tackling drug misuse.

He said: "This useful study serves as a reminder that there is no safe way to take controlled drugs, such as MDMA, or indeed psychoactive substances.

"These tablets can and do contain toxic substances with inherent risks and dangers.

"Drug dealers are only interested in profit and my officers regularly attend incidents, where young people have put themselves at risk by taking these substances.

"We will not tolerate drug misuse within the city centre that harms our young people and tears families apart."

The research document concluded: "This study shows that the MDMA content in tablets that look like ecstasy is variable.

"The user can never be sure of the content just from looking at the tablet and high dose MDMA tablets as well as PMA and PMMA increase the risk of taking these pills."