Legal highs have been pulled from the shelves of an online retailer after a Brighton mother, who lost her daughter to the dangerous drugs, complained.

Maryon Stewart, whose 21-year-old daughter Hester died four years ago last month, said she found “powerful psychoactive substances” for sale on Amazon.

She wrote a condemning letter to the company about the sale of the legal high nitrous oxide, which has been linked to several deaths in the UK including 17-year-old Joseph Bennet from London in October last year.

The letter – seen by The Argus – said: “I am extremely alarmed to see Amazon UK also sells other dangerous legal highs and paraphernalia, including poppers, salvia (of all strengths), pipes, bongs and grinders.

“Amazon is a highly trusted brand and should not be selling powerful psychoactive substances in any country just because they are legal and their sales are lucrative.

“These drugs are proven to be very harmful and risky to young people’s welfare.”

According to the drugs charity Frank, salvia is a Mexican plant with leaves that contain psychoactive chemicals that produce hallucinations when chewed or when dried and smoked. Pipes, bongs and grinders – which were still available to buy on Amazon yesterday – are paraphernalia used to prepare or use drugs.

Speaking about Amazon, Mrs Stewart, of Brighton, said her daughter’s death had prompted her to campaign for change.

Brighton medical student Hester would now be 25 had she not taken the then-legal high GBL in a house in Patcham. A coroner ruled the drug, combined with alcohol, killed her.

Her mother said the UK was behind other countries including Northern Ireland, NewZealand and Belgium, in tackling the problem of legal highs.

Today she is set to visit the Government to discuss the issue and how to educate children about legal highs in schools.

She said: “I was told that legal highs were available for sale on Amazon and I was shocked.

“Children and young people could buy legal highs and they could arrive quite innocuously in an Amazon package without anyone knowing.

“People can store bank details on Amazon so it would be easy to do.

“Parents could be paying for legal highs.”

An Amazon spokesman said: “All sellers on Amazon Marketplace must adhere to our guidelines in relation to the products that they make available for sale on our website and we use a variety of methods to ensure compliance.

“We act quickly to remove any items that contravene our guidelines and take appropriate action with the seller in question.”