Gap between tests costs £3,000
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* A Basingstoke couple claim their dream of a life on the road has been dashed because a driving school gave them the wrong advice. Graham Gateskill, a computer company manager and his girlfriend Melanie Eaton, an advertising production controller, were attracted to lorry driving when a friend said he could offer them work if they passed their tests.
Last November they saved up £1,500 to take their HGV tests. Both failed but a year later decided to try again, only to be told that because of the new "staged testing" rules which took effect in January 1997, each will now have to sit two tests at a cost nearer 23,000.
Gateskill says the driving school did not warn him of the impending rule changes. "Had we known we would have had £1,500 to enjoy last Christmas," says Gateskill, who declines to name the driving school. Under the new rules, the couple will need new provisional C licences and a rigid test pass before applying for C+E provisional licences and sitting their artic tests. They have now put their plans on ice. A spokesman for the Driving Standards Agency says: "Staged testing was introduced to improve road safety." The possibility of "grandfather rights" was discussed last summer but quickly dismissed as impractical.
J A driver training centre in Tyne & Wear claims that delays caused by the introduction of the new theory test for trainee lorry drivers has forced it to lay off five staff. The period from trainees making enquiries to taking their driving tests is now taking 10 weeks. The centre has written to local and Euro MPs, alerting them to the problem.