A DISGRACED officer's career has been ruined after he became the first in the British Army to test positive for drugs.

The officer, who served as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Army Medical Corps, resigned after tests proved he had been smoking cannabis.

The man, thought to be in his late 20s, was suspended immediately and allowed to resign his commission at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said the officer had given a positive sample on June 29 this year at the garrison.

He said the Army had a strict zero tolerance policy on drugs and would immediately take action against servicemen or women who proved positive.

Earlier this year, seven soldiers based at Catterick were thrown out of the Army after failing routine drugs tests.

The soldiers, all members of the Queen's Dragoon Guards, were immediately excluded after returning from block after a six-month operational tour of Kosovo