A DRUG driver who was found with more than three times the legal limit of cocaine in his system has been banned from the roads for a year.

Lee Stevely admitted driving a car on Old Caley Road last October when the proportion of benzoylecgonine - the main chemical compound found in cocaine - in his blood was 166mcg per litre of blood, exceeding the limit of 50mcg/litre.

The 26-year-old appeared at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court last week for sentencing.

The procurator fiscal depute told the hearing that police officers were on patrol in the area at around 1pm on October 19 and their attention was drawn to the accused's vehicle.

After stopping and speaking to Stevely, who was the sole occupant of the vehicle, the officers had reason to believe he was under the influence of drugs, and he was required to take a roadside test.

He was later taken to Saltcoats police office where a further reading returned a positive result for the substance.

Defence solicitor Gordon Ghee told the court his client did have a drug habit, but said it was "mainly cannabis" that he used as he was "going through a lot of personal troubles".

Mr Ghee said: "At the time of the offence he was travelling to his girlfriend's mother's house, and the residual reading came about from substances taken a day or so before."

Sheriff Alistair Watson banned Stevely, of Park Place in Irvine, from holding or obtaining a driving licence for 12 months.

The sheriff told him: "This was a reasonably significant reading, you must have been impaired somewhat whether you appreciated it or not."

Stevely was also fined a total of £370 for the offence, payable at a rate of £30 per month.