Suicide bomber Salman Abedi enjoyed drinking brandy and smoking cannabis, according to a former acquaintance.

The source, who asked not to be named, said the attacker had "big heavy nights out" in the past.

Abedi is said to have smoked weed and drank cognac while partying - but was described as a calm drunk.

"He was sound when he was drunk. He was just chilled. Just smiling, chatting away," the acquaintance said, adding: "Salman was sound, that's why I was so shocked."

They wondered if Abedi had potentially been "brainwashed", and said there had never been any alarm bells, adding: "Unless he was just that bit smarter that he knew not to mention anything to do with it, if he had something planned."

Abedi grew up in a Muslim household but an anonymous former friend previously told BBC Radio 4's World At One that by school age he regularly smoked cannabis.

The 22-year-old was known to security services before he carried out his deadly attack at Manchester Arena.

The British-born son of Libyan parents, he had been banned from a mosque in the city after criticising an imam for "talking bollocks" during a sermon critical of the Islamic State (IS) terror group, a former neighbour of Abedi's brother said.

A number of people who knew Abedi, and even family members, had reportedly warned authorities he was developing radical views, prompting concerns that signs of the threat he posed were missed.