A DRUGS-DRIVER stopped by police in Cross Hills has been banned from driving for a year by Skipton magistrates.

Shamus Miah, 40, was stopped by police in his Volkswagen Passat at just before 3am on June 1 in Skipton Road, the court heard.

Because there was a strong smell of cannabis coming from the car, Miah was asked to carry out a roadside drugs test, which proved positive. He was taken to Harrogate Police Station, where a blood test later revealed he had 4.9 microgrammes of the cannabis derivative, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, in one litre of blood. The legal limit is two.

Miah, who had originally denied driving while over the drugs limit, changed his plea to guilty on the day of his trial. He told magistrates he had not believed he would be so much over the limit, and was very sorry for what he had done.

Miah, of Skipton Road in Keighley, was banned from driving for a year and fined £200. He will also have to pay costs of £300 and a £30 surcharge.