A DRUG-DRIVER has been banned from the roads after he was seen veering across a lane by police.

Carl David Richards admitted drug-driving when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford.

Richards had been behind the wheel of a Vauxhall Astra when he was spotted by police on the A465 at Allensmore at around 3.50pm on April 14, prosecutor Ralph Robyns Landricombe said.

Officers followed him in their unmarked car, noting he was speeding up and slowing down before veering from one side of his lane to the other.

Richards was pulled over and asked to take a roadside drug test, which returned a positive result for cocaine.

An evidential test in custody revealed he had 212 microgrammes of cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine and 11 microgrammes of cocaine per litre of blood. The respective legal limits are 50 and 10.

George Cousins, for Richards, said the 39-year-old had been visiting friends and had a drink of shandy at a pub before getting in his car to drive home.

"He does not entirely accept the police account of what happened, but he does accept that he had cocaine in his system," he said.

Richards, of Mount Pleasant Street, Dowlais, was disqualified from driving for 12 months and fined £120. He must also pay costs of £100 and a £34 victim surcharge.