BRITAIN has the highest level of cocaine use in Europe with more than one in ten young adults taking the drug and a eightfold rise in death rates.

Young Britons now snort almost as much of the white powder as their American counterparts, according to figures published by European drugs watchdogs.

The deadly cost of Britain’s fashionable “cocaine culture”, whose prominent victims include Kate Moss, the supermodel, is disclosed in a report. The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction found that 11.6 per cent of Britons aged between 16 and 34 admit having used the drug.

In Britain, 6.8 per cent of all adults admitted they had tried it. The next highest figure is in Spain, with 4.9 per cent, followed by 4.6 per cent of Italians. The survey highlighted an increase in cocaine deaths. Figures show that they rose from 12 in 1993 to 96 in 2001. The figure is thought to have risen since, but no figures are available. Mentions of cocaine on death certificates in Britain have doubled in two years, to 171. Cocaine can contribute to death from cardiovascular problems and cerebral haemorrhages. It may well pass unreported, the survey said.

The growing use of the drug comes after warnings in the past decade that Latin American crime barons would hit European countries, having already swamped the US. The survey said that cocaine use is approaching US figures, “fuelling worries that cocaine is establishing itself as the stimulant drug of choice for many young people in parts of Europe”. About nine million Europeans have used the drug in the past year, exceeding the use of Ecstasy and amphetamines.

It suggests that Colombian cartels are targeting Europe after realising the market in the US had become saturated. Cocaine abuse appears to be entering from the western and southern fringes of the continent with Britain, Spain and Italy the hardest-hit. Cocaine seizures in the EU nearly doubled from 47 tonnes to 90 tonnes between 2002 and 2003 and more Europeans are now seeking treatment for cocaine-related problems.

The prevalence of the drug in Britain’s youth culture was emphasised by the difficulties faced by Miss Moss and her on-off boyfriend Pete Doherty. Photographs appearing to show Miss Moss snorting cocaine were published in a national newspaper. Mr Doherty, the singer, needed treatment after becoming addicted to crack and heroin.

A Home Office survey has shown that British manual workers are now more likely to take cocaine than professionals, a trend blamed on falling prices as availability soars.

Cocaine has even marred the Conservative leadership contest. A newspaper published an old photograph of George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, with a dominatrix called “Mistress Pain” seated at a table which bore a white substance. Mr Osborne is campaign chief for the front-runner David Cameron. Both have fended off questions about whether they had taken hard drugs.

Britain continues to have high levels of abuse of all illegal drugs, although other countries are catching up. Britain and Spain have the highest rates of amphetamine use. The Home Office said that since 2000 the use of Class A drugs overall, and cocaine in particular, has shown little change.

An official said: “The report notes that cocaine use has remained stable in the UK with only moderate increases observed. Drug- related crime continues to come down, increasing levels of drugs are being seized, and record numbers of drug misusers are accessing treatment. But while progress is being made, we are not complacent about drugs or the damage and misery they cause, and there is still much to be done.”

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