Vow to put brakes on £300 driving test black market

TRANSPORT Secretary Heidi Alexander yesterday vowed to end a driving test black market which sees motorists pay up to £300 in a bid to lose L-plates.

- By Jonathan Walker

A shortage of examiners means many learner drivers can wait longer than five months for a test, which costs between £62 and £75 depending on the day and time.

Black market operators use bots to book earlier tests on the official computer system and then sell them to learners at inflated prices.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has a target of cutting test waiting times to seven weeks by the end of this year.