Learners have to travel 70 miles for driving test

PEOPLE living in rural areas are having to travel more than 70 miles for a driving test in a bid to avoid waits of more than three months.

- David Williamson

Campaigners have condemned the “chaos” in the testing system which has left would-be drivers facing an average backlog of 15 weeks.

The scramble for appointments means that people are turning to third-party websites to get notification of last-minute cancellation slots, and often finding there are no tests available in their part of the country.

Countryside Alliance researchers using one of those services found people living in the Dorset town of Swanage wanting a test within a week would have to make a 71-mile journey to Portsmouth. They also found candidates in Brecon, Powys, facing a 54-mile trip to Bridgend for a test in nine weeks’ time.