The Mancunian Way: It could kill you - and it took just minutes to find

It took Nicole Wootton-Cane just 10 minutes to find someone willing to sell her weight loss jabs on TikTok. They didn’t ask questions about her age or medical history, or give her any guidance as to how to take the drug.

After coughing up £40, days later, she received four pre-filled syringes, each packaged with a shiny sticker reading 'Thank you for supporting my small business'.

It was one of multiple accounts advertising what purports to be semaglutide, otherwise known by the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy, Nicole’s special investigation uncovered. And it comes as the UK's medicines regulator warned against buying weight loss medicines without a prescription.

Data from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency's Yellow Card scheme shows since 2019, 23 deaths and 1,179 'serious' adverse reactions have been linked to semaglutide use in the UK. Dr Bhavini Shah, GP at LloydsPharmacy Online Doctor, told the M.E.N that taking weight loss jabs from an unregulated supplier 'could be life threatening'.

"Taking these medications puts individuals at risk of everything from allergic reactions to uncontrolled blood sugar levels, which could cause blurred vision, palpitations, seizures, or loss of consciousness," she said. "The potential contamination also poses a risk of infection that can range from mild to severe, and even be life-threatening."

When contacted TikTok told us their community guidelines are clear that they do not allow the illicit trade of regulated drugs on the platform, including semaglutide. They added they had reviewed the account in question and permanently removed it for violating these guidelines.

‘Welcome to Whitefield. The home of Slattery,’ read the signs as you come off the M60. The