Frustrated Knaresborough learner drivers face four month test wait

Knaresborough learner drivers face lengthy test wait

The figures for waiting times across the county vary from anything between five and 18 weeks, as more than 6,000 tests have been cancelled in Yorkshire in the last year alone.

In some areas - with Knaresborough and Whitby being the worst - students are waiting more than four months while in others, such as Steeton, tests are available within five weeks.

Analysis of Government statistics for Test centres in Yorkshire shows that thousands of tests are bring cancelled across the country.

But the figure of 18 weeks for Knaresborough is the joint-top worst in the whole of Yorkshire.

The situation, say instructors, is forcing them to book driving tests for their students before they’ve even had their first lesson.

But the DVSA’s head of operations, Phil Lloyd, said staff shortages were to blame.

“The increase in demand for driving tests is continuing, and we acknowledge that waiting times are currently higher than we would like in some of our locations,” he said.

“We are working to address this as quickly as possible and will continue with further examiner recruitment campaigns throughout 2016.”

He said the agency had recruited 193 new examiners in the past year with a further 44 starting since April.

In the year to March 2016, 53,575 driving tests were cancelled across the country, up 36 per cent in just two years.

Have you had any problems getting a driving test in a reasonable time?