A PLUMBER has been banned from the roads again after driving while disqualified and while over the drug limit.

James Eggerton admitted one count of driving while disqualified and one count of drug-driving when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford.

Police had stopped Eggerton behind the wheel of a Citroen Berlingo van on the A438 at 2.15am on August 30, prosecutor Mark Hambling said.

Eggerton was asked to take a roadside drug test, which returned a positive result for cocaine, and was taken to the police station, where an evidential blood test revealed he had 22 microgrammes of cocaine per litre of blood. The legal limit is 10.

The court heard Eggerton had previously been convicted of a similar offence in February last year, receiving a 12-month roads ban.

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Edmund Middleton, for Eggerton, said the 25-year-old defendant had made admissions about his drug use at the roadside.

"He used cocaine recreationally, however he has stopped using it now," he said.

"He works full time as a self-employed plumber and lives in Kington. That will clearly cause him some real difficulties during the period of his disqualification. He will be in difficulty getting lifts to and from sites in order to complete work. That will have a knock-on effect his family."

Mr Middleton said Eggerton had got behind the wheel after an argument, deciding to leave his address in order to get some space.

"There is no evidence of bad driving and there were admissions made at the scene about the drugs in his system," he said.

Eggerton, who is of Spond, Kington, was disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for three years and fined £795. He must also pay prosecution costs of £135 and a £316 victim surcharge.

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