A DRUG-DRIVER ended up in court after police spotted him using a mobile phone going through town centre traffic lights.

When Matthew Fender was stopped in Middlesbrough in his Vauxhall Corsa, officers noticed a strong smell of cannabis.

The car was searched and a lighter in the shape of a flick-knife was found in the glovebox, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Fender, 24, of Devon Road, Guisborough, admitted driving over the prescribed limit and possessing an offensive weapon.

He was given a 12-month community order with 150 hours' unpaid community work, and was banned from the roads for a year.

The judge, Recorder Ben Nolan, QC, told him there is an "alarming level" of knife crime but said he had not used it.

Andrew Turton, mitigating, said the novelty gift was thrown in the glovebox once the cigarette lighter stopped working.

He said: "Forgetting about it is not a defence, but it wasn't on his person. He can be punished with unpaid work."

Unemployed Fender was tested for drugs at the roadside and at the police station because his pupils were dilated.

Prosecutor Jenny Haigh said he failed both tests, and told police he had just done a "dead quick" text on his mobile phone.