A CIRCUS entertainer has been banned from the roads after he was caught drug-driving and carrying cannabis in Hereford.

Cai Leslie Lear entered a guilty plea when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford.

Prosecutor Ralph Robyns Landricombe said police had stopped Lear in his Volkswagen van in Portland Street in Hereford at 3.40pm on August 23.

He was asked to take a roadside drug test, which he failed, before handing a small amount of cannabis which he said he had bought for £20 for his own use to officers.

Lear was arrested and taken into custody at Hereford Police Station, where an evidential blood test revealed he had 6.8 microgrammes of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol per litre of blood. The legal limit is two.

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George Cousins, for Lear, said the 32-year-old entertainer and circus skills teacher had driven a long way for work that day and had been stopped very close to his Portland Street home.

"He felt his work was doing good for the community and was enjoying being able to pay something back, but he treats his anxiety by using CBD oil and sometimes by smoking cannabis," Mr Cousins said.

"Unfortunately he feels he will have to go on benefits as he travels a lot with his work."

Lear, who has a previous disqualification for drink-driving in 2015, was disqualified from driving for three years and fined £160. He must also pay costs of £135 and a £34 victim surcharge.