A ROOFER has been banned from the road after he was caught with cannabis and failed a drugs test in a traffic stop.

Jack Aston Thomas Sims of Hylidae Road, Hereford, admitted possessing the class B drug and two drug-driving offences when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford on August 5.

Prosecutor John Dove said police were on patrol in Hereford at around 9.57pm on February 20 when they received a report that a man was driving a Ford Transit van with cannabis in his system.

Officers stopped the van in Mantella Drive, Tupsley, noting a strong smell of cannabis within.

Sole occupant Sims produced 13.2 grams of cannabis and said he had just collected it.

He failed a roadside drug test, and a later evidential test performed in custody showed he had 486 microgrammes of cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine and 11 microgrammes of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol per litre of blood. The respective legal limits are 50 and two.

Speaking in his own defence, 26-year-old Sims said he had been having problems with a neighbour at the time.

“I buy cannabis in bulk to stay out of trouble by not going out too much,” Sims said.

“I had not smoked at all that day, and I believe it was in my system as a regular user. I think the benzoylecgonine was from medication I was taking for my leg.”

Sims said losing his licence, which is mandatory in such offences, would put considerable strain on his business, as his three employees are not old enough to be insured on his van.

Sims was disqualified from driving for 18 months, fined a total of £280, and must pay a £32 victim surcharge.