A FORMER chef has been banned from the roads after he was caught riding a motorbike with drugs in his system.

Kyle David Matthew Robinson admitted two charges of driving while over the drug limit when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford.

Police had been on patrol in Ross-on-Wye's Wilton Road when they saw Robinson riding a Kawasaki motorcycle at around 1pm on November 30, prosecutor Shafquat Reaz said.

Officers pulled Robinson over and asked him to carry out a roadside drug test, which returned a positive result. An evidential test in custody revealed he had 148 microgrammes of cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine and 2.5 microgrammes of cannabis metabolite delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol per litre of blood. The legal limits are 50 and two.

Stephen Scully, for Robinson, said the 40-year-old, who has a previous conviction for drink-driving, had gone to buy the bike that day.

"He lives on his own and he wanted to use it to help him get around," Mr Scully said.

"He hoped it would make him more employable and help his mental health, as he lives in quite an isolated place.

"He tells me that the weekend before he had gone to an event with five other people and they drank alcohol and took recreational drugs. He accepts that this is why there were traces of drugs in his system and that his actions were foolish."

The court heard Robinson, who worked as a chef before losing his senses of taste and smell after suffering a brain injury in an attack in 2017, had only ridden the bike a matter of yards before he was stopped by police.

Robinson, of Ridgeway Crescent, Whitchurch, was disqualified from driving for three years and fined £120. He must also pay costs of £135 and a £34 victim surcharge.