A MAN has been banned from the wheel after being caught driving at more than twice the legal cannabis limit.

Jonathan Hart, of Milbank Road, Darlington, was stopped by police following a report of four males smoking cannabis in a car.

Late on the evening of July 12 the 25-year-old was located in a car park, on Meynell Road, in the town where a positive roadside test for cannabis was taken.

Lesley Burgess, prosecuting at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court, said Hart was taken to the police station where a further test revealed he had 4.6 microgrammes of cannabis break in a litre of blood – the legal limit being two.

Hart, of previous good character, pleaded guilty at the hearing yesterday to driving over the specified controlled drug limit.

John Turner, mitigating, said the defendant came from a stable family and would keep his job at a shower and bath manufacturer in Newton Aycliffe thanks to his parents who will drive him to and from his workplace.

District Judge Helen Cousins said: “You were double the limit. That can be, I’m sure you now appreciate, extremely dangerous.”

Hart was disqualified from driving for 12 months, ordered to pay a fine of £280, prosecution costs of £85 and a £30 victim surcharge.