A HEREFORD man has been banned from driving after he was found to be over 10 times the legal cocaine limit.

David Stark entered guilty pleas in court to three counts of driving a motor vehicle with a proportion of a controlled drug above the limit when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford last month.

He has since appeared in court to be sentenced for the offences.

The court heard from prosecutor Lauren Millichip that the 47-year-old had been caught driving a Vauxhall Combo van while over the drug-drive limit on June 13.

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An evidential blood test revealed he had 504 microgrammes (mg) of benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine when the drug breaks down, 13 mg of cocaine and 6.5 mg of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol per litre of blood. This exceeded the legal limit for all three substances, which are 50, 10 and two respectively.

Stark, of Holmer Road, Hereford, was fined £200 and disqualified from driving for 28 months by magistrates.

He must also pay prosecution costs of £85 and an £80 victim surcharge.

His guilty pleas were taken into account by magistrates when they imposed the penalty.