Test centre U-turn plea

Calls are being made for a rethink over plans to close Kidderminster's driving test centre.

The site, in Castle Road, has been handed a reprieve for six months by the Driving Standards Agency (DSA), which claims it does not come up to modern standards.

Wyre Forest District Council are now hoping to use the delay to ask the DSA to reconsider its decision to close the centre.

DSA officials claim figures show Kidderminster needs only a centre within a 20-mile radius for its population.

But councillors have disputed this and say the numbers are wrong and that learner drivers will be penalised by lengthy and costly journeys to Worcester, Redditch or Lower Gornal.

The council's community services scrutiny committee will discuss the situation on Wednesday.

Council officials have also recommended Wyre Forest MP Dr Richard Taylor should put a Parliamentary question forward in the Commons about the criteria set by the Driving Standards Agency.

The DSA announced it was to close the centre in Kidderminster in May this year and that relocation to alternative premises had been explored.

A panel of five Wyre Forest District Councillors, led by Councillor Julian Phillips, have scrutinised the DSA's decision to close the centre.

He said: "According to the DSA's policy, where a population density is greater than 1,250 people per square kilometre, learner drivers should not have to travel more than seven miles to take their test.

"Kidderminster, Stourport and Bewdley combined cover an area of 46.9 square kilometres and have a population of 84,073.

"This means residents should have access to a test centre within seven miles."