A DRIVER who smoked cannabis to help him sleep has been banned from the roads.

Peter Jeffrey Roper admitted the offence when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford.

He had been stopped by police on the A49 at Moreton-on-Lugg after he was seen carrying out an "erratic overtake" just before 2pm on September 24, prosecutor Jonathan Purser said.

Roper was asked to take a roadside drug test and was arrested after it returned a positive result for cannabis. An evidential blood test revealed he had 3.4 microgrammes of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol per litre of blood. The legal limit is two.

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Chris Read, for Roper, said the 21-year-old had been on his way to work at Moreton Business Park when he was stopped.

"He had come down Dinmore Hill and overtook a car between Dinmore and the 50 limit," Mr Read said.

"He drove into work and parked his car to get out, but was met by police who came to speak to him.

"He tells me he had to change shifts at short notice and his sleep patterns had been disrupted. He is not a regular user, but he had smoked cannabis the night before as he thought it might help him."

Roper, of Hampton Charles, Tenbury Wells, was disqualified from driving for 12 months and fined £346. He must also pay costs of £135 and a £35 victim surcharge.