A DRUGS driver has been banned from driving for 12 months after being stopped by police in Skipton.

Liam Coupe, 30, was driving a Ford Transit van on Skipton High Street on June 15 when he was seen by officers who followed and stopped him in Brook Street, heard Skipton Magistrates Court today (Friday).

Officers searched the vehicle because they smelt cannabis, but found nothing, the court was told.

But Coupe, described by police as having red, glazed eyes, provided a positive roadside drugs test and was taken to the police station for a blood sample which later revealed he had 3.1 microgrammes of cannabis by-product delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinol in a litre of blood, the specified limit is two.

Coupe, who admitted drugs driving, told the court he had no excuse, that he had smoked cannabis the night before and would lose his job as a labourer as a result.

Magistrates banned Coupe, of Western Road, Skipton, for 12 months, fined him £220, with costs of £85.