A VAN driver has been banned from the roads after he was caught driving while over the drug limit.

Dean Drew admitted drug-driving when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford.

Police had stopped Drew behind the wheel of a Ford Transit in Hereford's Westfaling Street on January 19, prosecutor Melanie Winterflood said.

He 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 3.5 microgrammes of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol per litre of blood. The legal limit is two.

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Speaking on his own behalf, 36-year-old Drew said he had nothing to say about the offence.

He said that he is currently not able to work due to an injury and told the magistrates that he had driven himself to court that morning and that he had no alternative plans for getting home.

"I will not be walking to Shobdon, it's a long way," Drew said.

Drew, of Bateman Close, Shobdon, was fined £300 and disqualified from driving for 12 months. He must also pay costs of £100 and a £34 victim surcharge.