A drug driver had a three-year-old child in the back of his car who was not properly strapped in.

Blackburn Magistrates' Court heard the child was siting on the metal chassis of the car because the rear seat had been removed to be used as a bed on an ill-equipped camping trip.

Tyler Hey, 23, of Cartmel Avenue, Accrington, pleaded guilty to drug driving and a seat belt violation.

He was made subject to a community order for 12 months with 120 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £114 victim surcharge.

He was banned from driving for 15 months.

District Judge Alexandra Preston said the defendant had made a number of bad decisions.

“You went camping with a woman and her child but didn’t have the proper equipment and took the back seat out,” said District Judge Preston.

“The child was not properly strapped in and was sitting on the chassis.”

She said Hey had been smoking cannabis the night before and that presented danger not only to the people in the car but also to other road users.

Henry Prescott, prosecuting, said North Wales police were made aware of a car leaving a campsite and there were concerns that the driver had been smoking cannabis.

When they stopped the vehicle on the A487 at Porthmadog they discovered a three-year-old child in the back seat sitting on the chassis.

The child had the lap strap over them but the other part of the belt was behind them.

“The back seat had been removed to use as a bed for camping,” said Mr Prescott.

Hey, who was not represented, said he had not been smoking cannabis on the day he was stopped but accepted he had smoked some the night before.

“I apologise for everything I did,” he said. “I can’t go back but I understand that I was in the wrong.”

A pre-sentence report prepared by the probation service said Hey suffered from ADHD and anxiety and smoked cannabis at night to help with the symptoms and to help him sleep.