A BANNED driver has been hammered with a fresh three-year disqualification - on the day he was due to get his licence back.

Stuart Taylor was set to be back on the roads but he flouted a previously imposed 15-month prohibition period last September.

The 28-year-old — who was given his first ban after failing to comply with breathalyser procedures — was caught driving through Greenock.

Taylor, a convicted drug dealer, was spared a prison sentence after the town's sheriff court heard that he works full-time and has a mortgage.

Defence lawyer David Tod said: "The displeasure of the court could be reflected by way of unpaid work and a restriction of liberty order.

"He'd be working, staying in his house and doing the community payback order at the weekend for a considerable period of time, during which he could reflect on the seriousness of this offence."

Taylor, of Union Street, was stopped by police on Custom House Way on the evening of September 23 last year.

He pleaded guilty to driving whilst disqualified and without insurance.

The court was told that his first disqualification period had come to an end on the day he appeared for sentencing on the second matter.

Taylor was caught dealing a former so-called mephedrone — a cocaine-like chemical concoction he'd sourced from the internet — after setting up shop in a Greenock bar and restaurant in 2016.

The non-drug user was later ordered to stump up £6,525 following a proceeds of crime hearing.

Sheriff Joseph Hughes, who disqualified Taylor from driving for 36 months, told him: "You do have a record, of that there is no doubt, however, I have considered carefully the content of the background report and I am persuaded that, on this occasion, there is an alternative to prison."

The sheriff also ordered him to complete 250 hours of unpaid work within nine months and placed him on an electronic tag to remain within his home between 8pm and 6am each day for five months.

Taylor will also be under supervision for 12 months and he has been fined £400.