A CUDDINGTON man has been banned from driving for 12 months after he was caught driving under the influence of cocaine.

Darren Jones, 39, of Ash Road, was stopped by police on the A55 in Chester on Saturday, January 5, this year.

Jones, who works as a supervisor for a furniture company, admitted to police at the roadside that he had taken cocaine ‘in the past few days’.

A roadside drug swipe tested positive and a follow-up blood test found that he was almost twice the specified limit.

Benzoylecgonine, the substance which appears in the body after taking cocaine, was present at a level of 95 micrograms per litre, with the limit being 50 micrograms per litre.

Jones appeared at Chester Magistrates Court today, pleading guilty to the charge of drug driving.

Defending Jones, Mr Richard Thomas said: “He’s only just over the limit having taken some cocaine a few days before. He thought it was out of his system and actually it wasn’t quite out of his system.”

He was sentenced to a 12-month driving ban, fined £330 and ordered to pay court costs of £118.