A POWYS man approaching his seventies has been banned from driving for a year after he got behind the wheel having smoked cannabis.

Simon Newcombe, who is 68, was pulled over by police on May 15 this year in the village of Three Cocks.

Newcombe, of Swan Bank, Hay-on-Wye, was driving a Volkswagen Golf on the A438, and failed a roadside drug wipe when he was stopped by police.

The amount of the Class B drug in his blood was found to be 2.4 micrograms – the legal limit is 2 micrograms.

Newcombe appeared at Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, October 26, where he entered a guilty plea to drug driving.

In addition to the disqualification he was fined £120 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £34 surcharge.