A DRIVER has been banned after taking cocaine before driving in Hereford.

Danail Dimitrov Petkov entered a guilty plea when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford on November 25.

Magistrates heard the 45-year-old had been driving a Volkswagen Golf on the A49 Ross Road in Hereford when he was caught by police on May 5.

An evidential blood test revealed he had 76 microgrammes of cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine per litre of blood. The legal limit is 50.

Petkov, of Campbell Road, Hereford, was fined £120 and disqualified from driving for 12 months. He must also pay costs of £135 and a £34 victim surcharge.