A MAN who was caught smoking cannabis in his car with friends has avoided losing his driving license.

Brandon McCloskey had picked up his friends and driven them to a car park in Clent after a day at work, where prosecutor Leslie Ashton said they smoked the class B drug together.

She said police officers saw that the group appeared to be smoking something in the car and went to speak to the driver.

It was then the 20-year-old admitted to using cannabis and officers conducted a roadside saliva test which tested positive for drugs.

McCloskey was arrested and provided a blood test at the station which showed he had not less than 5 microgrammes of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, an element in cannabis, per litre of blood - above the specified limit to be classed as safe to drive or be in charge of a vehicle.

In mitigation, Catherine Maynereid said although the defendant was not driving at the time he came to the attention of the police, McCloskey accepts he would have driven at some point. The court's legal clerk pointed out that the reading of the drugs in his blood may have changed by the time he was to drive.

McCloskey, of Howley Grange Road, Halesowen, pleaded guilty to being in charge of a vehicle while under the influence of drugs and possession of cannabis when he appeared at Kidderminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday, September 24.

Chairman of the magistrates Richard Packer had the option to disqualify the defendant for six months or to endorse his driving license with 10 points.

McCloskey kept his license, with the endorsement, and was ordered to pay a £80 for the motoring offence, a £80 fine for the possession charge, a £180 court charge, £85 in prosecution costs, and a £20 victim surcharge.