Blur bassist Alex James has said he would be “surprised” if Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty live long enough to overcome their drug problems.

James, who has previously claimed to have spent "a million pounds on champagne and cocaine", said both musicians would need the help of people around them.

"I'd be surprised if Pete Doherty and Amy Winehouse both live to see the decade out. You know, it’s not funny,” he told the Mirror newspaper.

“I've been in situations where my best friends have been killing themselves (with drugs) and they won't listen."

James added: “At least there’s an infrastructure for getting better now. If that had existed in Elvis’s day then maybe he’d still be alive. It is scary.”

The bassist recorded a drugs documentary earlier this year which highlighted the impact the Columbian cocaine trade has across South America.

(by Jason Gregory)