A VAN driver has been banned from the roads after using cannabis before getting behind the wheel.

Jason Stephen Graves admitted drug-driving when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford.

Police had spotted Graves driving a Ford Transit van in Hereford's Belmont Road at 1.30pm on April 24, prosecutor Mark Hambling said.

Graves was pulled over and arrested after failing a roadside drug test for cannabis. An evidential blood test taken in custody revealed he had 5.6 microgrammes of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol per litre of blood. The legal limit is two.

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Marilena Di Vitantonio, for Graves, said the 36-year-old had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

"He accepts the facts and there were no aggravating features," she said.

"He was smoking cannabis at that time to help him deal with some issues, but that is no longer the case. His mother has attended with him today and confirms that he no longer uses it."

Miss Di Vitantonio said Graves is due to have a meeting with his employers to discuss his future.

"It may well be that once he cannot drive he will lose his job," she said.

"It does not mean he will not get a new job in the future, but that will take some time."

Graves, of Madley, Herefordshire, was disqualified from driving for 12 months and fined £250. He must also pay costs of £145 and a £34 victim surcharge.

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