A VAN driver was caught after police spotted him smoking what they believed to be cannabis at the wheel in Herefordshire.

Stephen Giles admitted drug-driving when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford.

His Ford Transit van had caught the attention of police as he drove along Ross-on-Wye's Walford Road at midday on August 25, prosecutor Elizabeth Blacklock said.

Giles, who police said appeared to be smoking a large cigarette that they believed to be cannabis, was pulled over and was arrested after failing a roadside breath test.

An evidential blood test taken in custody revealed he had 5.3 microgrammes of cannabis metabolite per litre of blood. The legal limit is two.

Speaking on his own behalf, 33-year-old Giles said he had not been expecting to drive that morning, but had got behind the wheel after his boss asked him to deliver a door to an address "just around the corner".

"I am still working but I will not be after today," Giles said.

"I have to drive for my job."

The court heard Giles, who said he had never claimed benefits in his life, would now need to do so as a result of a mandatory roads ban.

Giles, of Sun Lane, Coleford, was disqualified from driving for 12 months and fined £120. He must also pay costs of £85 and a £34 victim surcharge.