A NIGHT worker has been banned from the roads after he was caught on the roads while more than four times the drug-drive limit.

Ashley Lloyd admitted drug-driving when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford.

Police stopped Lloyd behind the wheel of a Seat Ibiza in a routine stop in Hereford's Holme Lacy Road on February 2, prosecutor Mark Hambling said.

But Lloyd was taken into custody after failing a roadside drug test for cannabis, with a blood test revealing he had 8.4 microgrammes of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol per litre of blood. The legal limit is two.

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Mark Turnbull, for Lloyd, said the 27-year-old works nights and had used cannabis quite often to help him sleep before a night shift.

"He was stopped almost as he pulled up outside his home after going out with his girlfriend," Mr Turnbull said.

"She had been drinking and so he drove. There was no evidence of any poor driving and it seems it was just a spot check."

Mr Turnbull said Lloyd had assumed that he would be ok to drive as he had slept since using cannabis.

"But of course he has learnt a lesson here about the effects of cannabis and how long it stays in the system," he said.

The court heard Lloyd works in a warehouse in Hereford and will be able to continue in his job.

Lloyd, of Holme Lacy Road, Hereford, was disqualified from driving for 12 months and fined £337. He must also pay costs of £135 and a £34 victim surcharge.

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