A MOBILE mechanic has been banned from the roads after he was caught drug-driving on a busy Herefordshire main road.

Adrian Paul Sean Connall entered a guilty plea when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford.

Police were on patrol on the A49 at Dinmore Hill when they spotted Connall behind the wheel of a Volkswagen Golf at 4pm on March 20, prosecutor Shafquat Reaz said.

Connall was asked to take a roadside drug test, which provided a positive result, and was taken into custody, where an evidential test revealed he had 3.7 microgrammes of cannabis metabolite delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol per litre of blood. The legal limit is two.

Chris Read, for Connall, said the 52-year-old had been caught out in a routine stop.

"Police had noted the car seemed to be quite heavily laden," Mr Read said.

"He had used cannabis the night before and had no idea that it would remain in his system for that length of time."

The court heard the mobile mechanic had been trying to resurrect his business after losing it during coronavirus but that a mandatory driving ban would leave him unable to do so.

Connall, of Blanchard Close, Leominster, was disqualified from driving for 12 months and fined £120. He must also pay costs of £135 and a £34 victim surcharge.