Three-month wait to get a driving test in Shropshire

Oswestry driving test centre had the longest wait, with no tests available for at least 14 weeks, while in Shrewsbury learners would have to wait 11 weeks before they could sit the exam.

In Whitchurch and Telford there were no test dates available for the next 10 weeks.

However, across the border in Wrexham, the wait is just six weeks.

Alan Jones, who runs AJ Driving School in Oswestry, said the delay for times in Oswestry was particularly bad, and suggested examiners from other areas should be drafted in to deal with the backlog.

"The waiting times at the moment are absolutely horrendous. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency don't seem to have got their act together," he said.

"Some of the pupils are having to wait until March, and that is not exactly providing them with the appropriate service whatsoever.

"They deserve better than that."

He said it was particularly difficult for learners who fail their driving test, and then have to book another date.

"They are test ready but they have to wait another three months," he said.

"It is expensive for them as well, as they need extra lessons to keep themselves up to speed.

"I had a pupil recently who was clearly ready for his test.

"He had been offered a job on a farm, but a driving licence was essential to that job."

Ron Ingall, who works as an instructor in Whitchurch, branded the figures a disgrace, saying the delays were affecting people's employment opportunities in the county.

"We're a rural county and we have to travel," he said. "I feel so sorry for the people who want to get tests, you've got midwives who have to pass the test to get about the county. They can't get tests.

"If they fail the test they're at the back of the queue again."

Director of operations at the Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency, Peter Hearn, admitted that that many of people were waiting too long to take a driving test.

"Over the past three years' demand has increased by over 200,000 tests – with an extra 92,000 last year alone – and we're working hard to make more tests available.

"We've recruited 260 new driving examiners, made employment offers to 128 prospective driving examiners and plan to recruit at least 100 more. We've improved the way we train them so they're testing sooner. We're also looking to make more tests available during evenings and weekends.

"Candidates may also be able to get a test sooner by looking beyond their nearest test centre – currently nine out of 10 permanent test centres have tests available in the next few weeks."