A SINGLE mum has lost her licence for a year after not realising how long cannabis stays in the system.

Gemma Simner, 27, of Queensway, Hereford had 2.3mg of the chemical compound of cannabis in her system- the legal limit is 2mg.

The court heard she was stopped by police at 8.30am on August 22 after she had pulled up to go into a shop.

Chris Read, defending, said she had used cannabis the night before.

He said: "She obviously had no idea, as 99 per cent of the population are in the same position, that cannabis would have stayed in her system that length of time."

He said she is a single mum and losing her licence would affect her childcare arrangements.

Mr Read said as far as he knew there was nothing wrong with her driving and he believes police stopped her as she had received a caution in 2014 for possession of cannabis.

Magistrates disqualified her from driving for 12 months and ordered her to pay a £120 fine, £70 costs and £30 victim surcharge.