THREE people are without their driving licences after they were caught drug driving.

At Bolton Magistrates’ Court each of them was fined after admitting their guilt and given driving bans of between 12 and 15 months.

The court heard how 25-year-old Charlotte Sleigh had been at a cousins’ birthday party where she was offered cocaine and cannabis.

But later, on March 5, she was pulled over by police on Briarfield Road, Farnworth, and a roadside drug test showed she was over the driving limit for the drugs.

Rahil Khan, defending, told the court how Sleigh, of Webster Street, Bolton, suffers from anxiety and depression and the single mother-of-three uses cannabis occasionally to relax.

He added that she had been encouraged to attend her cousins’ 18th and 21st birthday party where she was offered cocaine and used some twice.

“She regrets her conduct because she doesn’t normally behave in this way,” said Mr Khan.

“It is the first time she is before the court. I am confident she will not be before the court again.”

Magistrate Martin Simpson told her: “We can’t have people driving around after taking drugs. It is very dangerous for you and other people who may be around on the day.”

Sleigh was fined £240, banned from driving for 15 months and ordered to pay £117 in costs and charges.

When police pulled over Stephen Collier’s Vauxhall Corsa on Bolton Road, Farnworth, on December 23 to speak to him about his standard of driving, he tested positive for having taken cocaine.

Magistrates heard how the factory machine programmer had been to a works Christmas party several days earlier.

Collier, aged 31, of Arthur Avenue, Walkden, has no previous convictions and Martin Pizzey, defending said: “He would not have driven had he known he still had drugs in his system and he regrets what he did. It is a mistake which has cost him dear.”

Collier was banned from driving for 12 months, was fined £311 and ordered to pay £117 in costs and charges.

Magistrates heard that Christopher Kimmer, aged 25, of Rayden Crescent, Westhoughton, is likely to lose his job as a result of his drug driving conviction as he is required to travel around the country.

He tested positive for using cocaine after his Seat Leon was stopped on Garstang Avenue, Bolton on November 23 last year for having a faulty brake light.

Martin Pizzey, defending, said that police were prompted to test him for drugs because there was a damp coat in the vehicle which smelled of cannabis.

He added that Kimmer had been out for a drink with a friend and had accepted a cannabis cigarette and cocaine.

“It is not normally something he does,” said Mr Pizzey, who added that Kimmer's employers carry out random drug testing. He was banned from driving for 12 months, fined £400 and ordered to pay £115 in costs.