POLICE are warning that a rogue batch of heroin may be in circulation, following two deaths in 48 hours.

South Wales Police said there were also two non-fatal overdoses in the same period and warned the drug could put users in the area under extra risk.

Richard Paul Smith, 33, from Tonypandy, died on Monday. Another man, thought to be in his 20s, has not been named.

Detective Inspector Steve Webber, the head of Gwent's drug squad, said: "We've been alerted to it. We haven't seen it in Gwent so far but drug dealers transcend force boundaries."

He said heroin was "prolific" in Gwent and the force had made several seizures in the past few weeks.

He said it was not yet known whether the suspect batch was extra pure or contaminated with another substance.

He recalled a scare in Birmingham about 18 months ago when a batch of heroin was found to be contaminated with deadly anthrax, probably from an infected person involved in the drug's preparation.

Detective Inspector Paul Burke, of South Wales Police, said: "We are concerned at the events of the past couple of days and warn drug users that they could be at even more risk should they use this batch of heroin."

A national alert was issued last month after contaminated heroin, blamed for at least 31 fatalities across Britain and Ireland last year, was linked to a drug user who was taken ill. Deaths in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dublin, England and Wales were all being linked to the rogue batch.