THE family of a young woman found dead in North Yorkshire after taking the danger drug mephedrone have paid tribute to a “quiet, kind, caring girl with a great sense of humour”.

Lois Waters, 24, was discovered dead in the early hours of Monday morning by a friend, Sarah Ford.

Family and friends of Miss Waters, of Norton, had told police she had taken the “legal high” in the 48 hours prior to her death.

In a joint statement today, her family said: “We adored her and often said she was the perfect daughter.

“As the baby of the family, she was idolised by her two older sisters and spent a lot of time with them and their families.

“We will be forever grateful to Sarah, her true friend, for being there.

“Lois will be sadly missed but never forgotten.”

A full toxicology report is being carried out, and an inquest is expected to be opened and adjourned tomorrow.

Yesterday Robert Goodwill, Conservative MP for Scarbrough and Whitby, backed The Press’s Menace of Mephedrone campaign, which was launched in January to raise awareness of the party drug and to call for it to be banned.

He said: “I have raised this issue with the Home Office and I think that they have been too complacent in dealing with the issue. If they had reacted sooner perhaps lives could have been saved.

“I certainly 100 per cent back The Press’s campaign to ban mephedrone and I think we need to look at the whole generic family of this ‘legal high’.

“We need to make sure that we are prepared next time a derivative of this type of drug is launched on the unsuspecting public.”

Meanwhile, Gordon Brown’s promise of an immediate ban on the drug could be undermined by an EU directive, it has been reported.

The Prime Minister had said the Government would act swiftly to deal with the drug mephedrone. Experts on a Government drugs panel are due to report on mephedrone on March 29 and have indicated they will recommend classifying the compound as a class B substance.

But concerns have been raised that, under the EU Technical Standards and Regulations Directive 98/34/EC, the Government would have to give the EU at least three months notification before it can change British legislation.