UK transport minister Mike Penning has apologised for the decision to close driving test centres in Forfar and Arbroath without any consultation with those affected.
The admission comes as an online petition aimed at saving the centres started by local instructors June Clarke and Lez Wells has already attracted more than 1200 signatures, despite only being launched last week.
Mr Penning was urged by Angus MP Mike Weir to delay the impending closures, scheduled for March 18, in order to review the decision.
The Driving Standards Agency maintains that as both centres are within a 30-mile radius of a new multi-purpose test centre in Dundee no consultation process is necessary.
However, the minister conceded he would look at waiting times for the two test centres and if they were substantially above the target six weeks he would allow them to remain open until this threshold was reached.
Mr Weir said he was unable to understand why Mr Penning could not at least take time to consider the merits of keeping both centres open.
He said, “It seems utterly ludicrous that in that situation he was not prepared to at the very least postpone any decision until he had a chance to review the code governing closures.
“The minister did indicate that he would postpone any closure until such time as the waiting times at all local centres are reduced if they were substantially above the target level, but only if this was not caused by instructors’ block bookings.
“At best this would only be a temporary reprieve and does not seem to adequately understand the way such centres work.”
Mr Weir also criticised the UK Government for the decision, which he feels penalises learners in more remote areas.
“It was quite clear from what he said that money was the governing factor in the situation and the agency were determined to close smaller rural testing centres and centralising services,” he added.
“In this situation the interests of local learners, instructors and the community are simply being over-ridden by a central government agency.”
Mr Wells last night thanked Mr Weir for raising the issue at Westminster and said the campaign had received “a huge backing.”
“The petition is going very well and we’ve even had people from other countries signing it,” he said.
“One of the wonderful things that has come out of this is that we now have the support of five other MPs who are facing similar situations in their areas. It’s good to know we’re not in it alone.”
Photo used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user tgraham.