A patrolling police officer smelled cannabis coming from a car which passed him travelling in the opposite direction.

Blackburn magistrates heard the officer turned round and stopped Ethan Banham's Citroen Berlingo in Clough End Road, after which the 20-year-old who failed a roadside drug swipe on November 17.

Banham, of Blackburn Road, Haslingden, pleaded guilty to driving over the limit for cannabis.

He was fined £120 with £85 costs and £48 victim surcharge and banned from driving for 12 months.

Jonathan Taylor, mitigating, said his client had no previous convictions.

On the day of the incident he finished work and went to a friend's house.

"His friend was in the garden shed smoking some cannabis and he accepts smoking some with his friend," said Mr Taylor.

"He was driving the short distance home when he was stopped."

Mr Taylor said his client had been working for a local tree services company but it was unlikely he would keep his job because of the inevitable disqualification.