POLICE investigating the death of student and possible drugs victim Rachel Whitear have interviewed one of the last people to see her alive.

The Wiltshire detectives travelled to Greece to talk to Miss Whitear's former drugs counsellor about her state of mind and lifestyle shortly before her death in May 2000.

The 21-year-old former Bath student was found dead in a flat in Exmouth, Devon, of an apparent drugs overdose.

Her death made national headlines after her parents, Pauline and Michael Holcroft, from Herefordshire, allowed a shocking picture of her dead body, knelling on the floor clutching a syringe, to be published, in the hope of warning others about the dangers of drugs.

This is the third investigation into Rachel's death, following two previous probes carried out by Devon and Cornwall officers.

The inquiry was reopened after a coroner ruled out a heroin overdose as the cause of death after it was discovered the levels of the drug in Rachel's system were too low to prove fatal. The Police Complaints Auth-ority chose Wiltshire officers to take over the inquiry, following a complaint by Mr and Mrs Holcroft about the way the two previous probes were handled.

DC Chris Conway, who is based at Trowbridge CID, was chosen for the pivotal role of family liaison officer and has worked closely with Mr and Mrs Holcroft to keep them up to date with the investigation.

PCA spokesman Richard Offer said the witness, who has not been named, was one of the last the police needed to speak to.

He said: "He has provided information which moved the inquiry forward.

"They have more or less finished their inquiries now and will proceed with writing their report."