A DRUG driver has been banned from the roads after being sniffed out by a police officer.

Sgt Paul Brady was overtaken by a car driven by Harry Timms-Mitchell on the A120 near Stansted Airport on November 23 last year.

Sgt Brady immediately noticed an "extremely strong" smell of cannabis coming from the car and pulled him over.

Timms-Mitchell tested positive for cannabis at the roadside and was arrested.

A blood sample taken in custody was later found to contain 4.9mcg of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) per litre of blood.

The legal limit is 2mcg.

Timms-Mitchell, of Mill Road Drive, Purdis Farm, Ipswich, admitted driving a motor vehicle with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the specified limit, at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on May 30.

He has now been disqualified from driving for 12 months, fined £500 and ordered to pay £105 costs and a £200 victim surcharge.

Sgt Brady said: “Drugs can stay in your system for quite some time after you have taken them and driving with any amount of drugs in your system can be very dangerous, for you, your passengers and other road-users.

“You are at greater risk of causing a collision because drugs can delay your reactions, affecting your ability to judge speed and distance, and so you may not brake in time if you need to.

“And they create a false confidence so, even if you think you are safe to drive, you are not.

“If convicted of drug-driving you may lose your licence and that could cost you your job.”