THE director of a York removal company could be back in the roads in September, more than two years after he was banned for drug driving.

Melvyn Joseph Hughes of family firm Jorvik Removals and Storage Ltd went to York Magistrates Court to ask for a reduction in the three-year driving ban he got on April 27, 2017.

“It has had a massive impact on my life and my business,” he said. “My wife is having to drive the removal trucks, pulling her out of the office.”

They heard police tests revealed he had cocaine and another drug in his blood after he crashed a van into a lamp-post on Shipton Road, York, on February 5, 2017.

It was his second driving ban. In 2009, he was banned for 18 months for drink driving.

Hughes, 43, of Bowes Avenue, Tang Hall, told magistrates he had stopped taking cocaine immediately after he was banned in 2017.

“I had personal problems at the time. I am remorseful,” he said. “I was a light user. I realised it is not good so I stopped. It was not good for my life, my driving licence, my business.”

Magistrates also heard that unlike drink drivers, drug drivers cannot get their driving ban reduced by going on a rehabilitation course.

They told him it was his second driving ban but they had taken into account the effect on his business and his family.

They allowed him to have his licence back from September 1 – provided DVLA agrees.

He was warned he may have to produce medical or other evidence to the licensing authority and he was told he could not drive until he physically has a driving licence in his hand.

In addition to the driving ban, Hughes was ordered to do 80 hours’ unpaid work and pay costs.