A MOTORIST was caught driving in Alloa when more than seven times over the limit for cannabis.

Billy Cunningham admitted in court that he has been smoking cannabis for decades and used it as a painkiller.

When police stopped his van while he was on his way to work, they found it had no MOT, a bald tyre and a faulty light.

Officers also found he had number plates which did not comply with regulations.

Depute fiscal Rachel Wallace said police had stopped Cunningham’s vehicle and could smell cannabis from him.

He failed a roadside drugs test and checks then showed the van had no MOT.

Cunningham, 37, of Brown Road, Seafar, Cumbernauld, appeared at Alloa Sheriff Court last Thursday, April 6.

He admitted that on April 11, last year, in Clackmannan Road, Alloa, he drove a van having taken excess cannabis.

The court heard the accused's reading was 15 microgrammes of THC per litre of blood, well above the the legal limit of 2 microgrammes.

Cunningham, who was representing himself, said: “I use it as a painkiller. I’ve smoked it for 25 years.

"I had smoked it the house before I was driving. I’ve got sciatica.”

Sheriff Neil Bowie said: “You’re a habitual user of cannabis and as such it’s a concern that you’re taking to the road.”

He banned Cunningham from driving for a year and will be required to pass the extended driving test before he can get behind the wheel again.

Cunningham was also fined £520.