AN electrician was smoking cannabis with two friends while parked outside the national park centre in Grassington, a court heard.

Maximillian Simpson-Akanbi, 22, told police he had not been smoking the drug, while his two friends admitted they had, heard Skipton Magistrates Court yesterday( Friday).

Police had gone to the Yorkshire Dales National Park Centre car park in the afternoon of April 5 after receiving a report of males smoking cannabis, the court heard.

A roadside drugs test on Simpson -Akanbi, who was in the driver’s seat, was positive , and he was taken to the police station where he was found to have seven microgrammes of the cannabis by-product delta-9-tetradydrocannabinol in 100 millilitres of blood. The specified limit is two.

Simpson-Akanbi admitted in court being in charge of a vehicle while over the specified limit for a controlled drug.

His licence was endorsed with 10 penalty points, adding to the three already on his licence and putting him at risk of an immediate ban as a totter. People with 12 points or more are subject to a six month driving ban.

But, magistrates accepted his exceptional hardship plea, and let him hold onto his licence.

The court heard that Simpson - Akanbi lived with his mother in Silsden but worked in Germany where he was on a long term contract.

A statement read out in court from his employer said he was a valued member of staff and his behaviour was out of character. He would have had to have been ‘let go’ if he had lost his driving licence.

Others, including a firefighter, also said it was not like him and he was a hard working individual.

The court heard Simpson-Akanbi supported his mother financially and also needed to visit his grandfather who was in hospital.

He told the court losing his licence would have a devastating impact on his life. He had completed a four year apprentice to become an electrician; and his job involved him driving others to the site in Germany where he worked.

Magistrates told Simpson-Akanbi proving exceptional hardship was a high bar to reach, but he had achieved it. He was however warned he could not use the same argument again in three years or do anything to add to his penalty points.

Simpson-Akanbi, of Haythornes Avenue, Silsden, was fined £692, reduced from £1,038 because of his early guilty plea, with costs of £85 and a surcharge of £69.