A DRUGS driver appeared to throw items out of his car before being stopped by police on New Year’s Day on the A629 at Bradley, heard Skipton Magistrates Court.

Amar Ali, 35, driving a black Mercedes, was stopped as he headed north on the Aire Valley trunk road by a police officer at 8.30pm on January 1, the court was told today (Friday).

The officer had noticed a smell of cannabis coming from the vehicle and had also seen what appeared to be items being thrown out before it pulled over, the court heard.

Ali tested positive for cannabis at the roadside and was arrested and take to the police station where he was ‘calm and compliant’ and provided a blood sample for analysis.

The sample revealed he had 5.3 microgrammes of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol - a by-product of cannabis - in one litre of blood. The specified limit is two.

Ali, who admitted drugs driving, had been disqualified from driving under the totting up procedure, after the incident on January 1, and was currently banned from driving, the court was told.

His previous motoring convictions, included driving without insurance and failing to provide a specimen for analysis.

Ali, of Fairbank Road, Bradford, who was unrepresented in court, said he had nothing to say. He was banned from driving for three years and fined £250 with costs of £85 and a surcharge of £34.