A DRIVER banned by magistrates was told by a judge he must stay off the road to protect the public.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Rayaz Mohammed, 37, was earlier disqualified after being convicted of driving while unfit through drugs.

He is to appeal the conviction on May 6 and asked Judge Raymond Bennett to suspend the disqualification in the meantime.

The judge refused and told Mohammed, who he said had had a "concoction" of drugs in his body at the time: "It would be dreadful if I were to suspend it and you injured somebody while still on medication which you unwittingly didn't realise was going to make you unfit to drive. I can't take the risk."

The court was told Mohammed, of Regent Place, Nelson, had tomazepan, diazepan, heroin and or morphine, cannabis and possibly codeine in his blood when tested by police.

He was also said to have had a bottle and a half of WKD although he gave a negative breath test. Mohammed, who claims he wasn't unfit and had been taking prescribed drugs, told the judge the police gave him his car keys back to drive home after he was tested.

His barrister, David Pojur, told the hearing that Mohammed needed his licence to take both his parents to hospital for treatment.