A HATCHERY worker who drove after smoking cannabis has been banned from the roads.

Kieran John Jones admitted drug-driving on a main road near Leominster when he appeared before Hereford Magistrates Court on September 16.

Prosecutor Ralph Robyns Landricombe said police came across Jones' Vauxhall Astra at the junction of the A44 and A49 on April 3.

Officers said the car appeared to have been in an accident, with damage to the front end and debris on the road.

They also noted a smell of cannabis at the scene, and 19-year-old Griffiths was arrested after failing a roadside drug test.

An evidential blood test revealed he had 2.8 microgrammes of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol per litre of blood. The legal limit is 2.

In interview, Griffiths, who is from Step-A-Side, Onibury, said he had smoked eight spliffs in the early hours of the morning and had felt fine to drive.

He told police he had hit a patch of gravel and lost control of the car because of that.

Philip Cornell, mitigating, said Griffiths had not touched cannabis since April.

"He had just split up with his girlfriend and had it to calm himself down," Mr Cornell said.

"He has now got over his emotional problems and he has learned his lesson."

The court heard that Griffiths, who works at an Avara Foods hatchery in Caynham, was keen to keep his job and was making plans to move closer to the site.

Griffiths was disqualified from driving for 12 months and fined £282. He must also pay costs of £135 and a £32 victim surcharge.