A DRUG-DRIVER was caught behind the wheel while over the limit in stops just months apart, a court has heard.

Matthew Robert Taylor, of Ledbury Road, Hereford, entered a guilty plea when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford.

Prosecutor Ralph Robyns Landricombe said police were alerted after they received reports that Taylor was driving while under the influence in Hereford on March 29.

Officers found the 31-year-old stopped outside Hereford Fire Station on St Owens Street, and he was arrested after failing a roadside drug wipe test.

An evidential test in custody revealed he had 60 microgrammes of cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine and 2.8 microgrammes of cannabis metabolite delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol per litre of blood. The respective legal limits are 50 and two.

Taylor was again stopped behind the wheel of his Nissan Qashqai just after 4pm on May 25 at Bartestree.

Police decided to drug-test him after noting his pupils were small and he was sweating, and Taylor was again arrested after failing at the roadside.

In custody, a blood test revealed he had 112 microgrammes of benzoylecgonine per litre of blood.

Marilena Di Vitantonio, for Taylor, said he had been taking provisions to his shielding grandparents when he was stopped on March 29.

"He had taken the drugs the night before and he drove the next afternoon," Miss Di Vitantonio said.

"He also took cocaine the night before driving on May 25, and says it was not something he would normally do."

Taylor was disqualified from driving for 30 months and fined £500. He must also pay costs of £270 and a £50 victim surcharge.