Driving tests could return to Kidderminster

Driving tests could return to Kidderminster three years after a centre was controversially closed, a Government minister has revealed.

Roads Minister Mike Penning said a trial scheme to hold tests from council buildings, hotels and leisure centres could be extended to the town. Suitable test routes and locations for bases will be looked at.

More than 1,700 people signed a petition to retain a centre in the Wyre Forest district after the Driving Standards Agency said Kidderminster's building in Castle Road needed costly repairs and did not suit modern day needs.

But it shut anyway in 2009 and learners have since had to use the facility in Lower Gornal instead.

Mr Penning said Kidderminster, Droitwich and Bromsgrove were now being considered to take part in the trial in Worcestershire, with a view to it becoming permanent.

He said the Driving Standards Agency would look at suitable routes and locations in the towns.

Wyre Forest district councillor Julian Phillips said: "This is a welcome announcement for not just me, but all those driving instructors, learner drivers and the rest of the community who backed our campaign in 2008 and 2009. All our efforts were not in vain."

Wyre Forest MP Mark Garnier added: "I have been lobbying the minister since the election to restore testing in Wyre Forest. There was huge upset at the closure of Kidderminster's test centre by the previous Labour government."

At the time of the closure, driving instructors using the Kidderminster centre argued that transferring driving tests to Lower Gornal would cause candidates extra costs.