British long-distance runner Luke Traynor has been banned for two years after taking cocaine ©Getty Images

British long-distance runner Luke Traynor has been banned for two years after taking cocaine.

The 26-year-old Scot failed a drugs test at the Vitality London 10k race on May 27 of last year, and was later charged by UK Anti-Doping (UKAD).

He admitted the offence in July and said he took "full responsibility" in a statement where he apologised to his family and friends.

Traynor said that he was offered cocaine in the early hours of May 25 after going out drinking in Glasgow, a UKAD report said.

It was the first and only time he had taken the drug, he added.

UKAD issued a two-year ban as it was accepted that his cocaine use was not related to sports performance or an attempt to cheat.

Traynor's timely admission of the offence was also taken into account.

He previously competed for Great Britain at the 2019 World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus in Denmark, as well as the 2018 World Half Marathon Championships in Valencia.

In 2011 he won the Great Scottish Run, while he has also represented Britain at the European Cross Country Championships at under-20 and under-23 level.

Traynor said he was glad the case was settled but he also hit out at UKAD, adding: "Serious questions need to be asked over the professionalism of UKAD. 

"My case was a lot more straight forward than most yet UKAD made mistakes with facts, even sent me draft reports.

"I wasn't forewarned about the decision as promised, saw it online."

Pat Myhill, the UKAD director of operations, said: "We are urging athletes to consider the significant risk that goes hand in hand with using cocaine. 

"Athletes should be aware that cocaine, used out-of-competition, often stays in the system. 

"If an athlete takes cocaine out-of-competition and then tests positive in-competition, they will be committing an ADRV and may be subject to a ban from sport."

Traynor will be able to return on May 26 of next year, after his ban was backdated.