A DRIVER has been banned for three years after being caught almost nine times the drug limit.

Claudiu Precup, of Magnolia Drive, Colchester, was caught driving in Cowdray Avenue over the limit of Benzoylecgonine, the main metabolite of cocaine.

The 21-year-old registered 444 micrograms of analyte per litre of blood. The legal limit is 50.

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Precup admitted the charge and was given 100 hours of unpaid work within the next year, and ordered to pay victim surcharge fees of £95, and £105 to the Crown Prosecution Service.

He was also disqualified from driving for 36 months.