THE father of a St Annes student has spoken out after discovering his daughter may have had her drink spiked with the notorious "date rape" drug, GHB.

Sales executive Matt Davies said his 23-year-old daughter collapsed mysteriously in a St Annes bar on Saturday night.

She was later taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital where doctors linked the symptoms with "something related to GHB".

The Government has said this week that it wants to make GHB --gamma hydroxybutrate--a controlled Class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1991 as recommended by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.

The liquid drug is said to take effect in minutes, rendering victims unconscious for several hours.

Mr Davies said his daughter was out at Tiles nightclub with two friends when she suddenly collapsed while dancing.

"They said they went on the dance floor within six feet of their drinks," he said. "Halfway through the dance my daughter collapsed on the floor semi comatose.

"She could not move or walk. Her two friends and a member of staff picked her up and took her outside to get some fresh air."

They carried her into a taxi which had just pulled up outside, but when the female driver saw how ill the young woman was, she took the three women to hospital, by which time Mr Davies's daughter was almost unconscious, he said.

He said doctors examined her and linked the symptoms with "something which related to GHB".

He added that a triage nurse in Accident and Emergency later confirmed to him that his daughter had been brought in a semi-conscious state unable to walk or talk and that no alcohol content was found in a blood test.

She began to come round after about four hours, he said. "She didn't know how she'd got there and next day she was completely ashen. She had nothing to eat or drink and her eyes were glassy all day."

Mr Davies, whose wife is a drug and alcohol counsellor, said he contacted the police on Sunday after they learned what had happened.

"Something should be done because my daughter could have been on her own, driving a car, or on medication. This could have been a death," he said.

Sgt Steve Lawman of St Annes Police said that although he did not have any details of the particular incident there were no recorded incidents of use of GHB as a date rape drug in the Lytham or St Annes areas.

A spokesman for Blackpool Victoria Hospital was unable to confirm any details of the incident or what medical tests had taken place.

PC Alan Wilson of the crime management unit at Blackpool Police said officers were still looking into the incident. "I can confirm an incident has taken place and based on medical evidence the young lady was advised to contact the police," he said.

"Obviously it is not a closed incident -- it has not been dropped and investigations are ongoing."

He suggested one safety strategy could be to drink from bottles only, keeping a thumb over the bottle neck when not drinking. People should try to keep drinks with them, in sight, at all times he added.

A spokesman for Tiles said: "We are naturally extremely concerned to hear of this incident. We have strict in-house security procedures in place and we are seeking further advice from the police."