A drug driver caught with less than a spliff-worth of cannabis in his car was fined and banned from the roads.

Swindon Magistrates’ Court heard Benjamin Jones, 26, had gone out for a drive in his VW Polo on May 27 last year as he was feeling anxious.

Police pulled him over in Chiseldon after watching him struggle to negotiate a mini-roundabout. They could smell cannabis in the car.

Jones provided a positive reading for cannabis at the roadside. A later blood test showed he was more than three times the drug driving limit.

Defending, Jeremy Griffiths said of his client’s decision to go out for a drive: “He was suffering from anxiety on the day and decided to go for a drive. It’s his biggest regret he didn’t just go for a walk from the house.”

He needed his car for work and to pick up his young daughter.

Jones, of Tockenham, pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis and drug driving.

District Judge Joanna Dickens fined him £400 and ordered he pay £125 in costs and surcharge. He was banned from driving for a year.