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A MAN has been banned from driving for getting behind the wheel after smoking cannabis with his friends.

Harry Harris, 22, had 3.2 microgrammes (mg) of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in his blood after police pulled over his Volkswagen Fox due to a faulty lightbulb in his number plate. The legal driving limit is two mg.

When questioned about the reading on February 19, Harris said he had been offered a cigarette with cannabis in it by his friends and had smoked it. He then offered to give one of his friends a lift home in Hereford.

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Hereford Magistrates' Court heard that officers stopped Harris in South Bank Road, after he had dropped his friend off, because the lightbulb on his number plate was not working. Officers saw that his pupils were dilated and asked him for a roadside drugs test. This was positive for cannabis and Harris was arrested, said prosecuting solicitor Thomas Wickstead.

Harris pleaded guilty to one count of drug-driving before magistrates in Hereford.

Mitigating, defence solicitor Chris Read said: "He works in Leominster and lives in Ledbury. He will be able to continue employment but may need to take a taxi to and from work."

Harris, of Pixley, Ledbury, was handed a 12-month driving ban and a £346 fine. He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £138 and court costs of £85.