A MAN who passed his driving test two years ago, has been told he must take it again - and he claims it's all down to bureaucratic blunders and red tape.

Although Daniel Newby, 20, claims to have passed his test on December 13, 1995, he told the Citizen that the DVLA in Swansea have never acknowledged his achievement and they refuse to send him a licence until he takes a new test.

The problem started for Daniel, of Jepps Avenue, in Barton, in 1997, when two years after passing the dreaded exam, he finally decided to send off for his full licence.

He said he hadn't sent off his provisional licence and pass certificate earlier because he didn't have a car, and had no need to drive at the time, so a licence was unnecessary.

He explained: "I was told I had two years to send off for the licence, so there was no hurry.

"Then when I did finally post the information to DVLA, there were still three months to go.

"I heard nothing for weeks and finally I telephoned them to find out what was happening.

"That's when they said they hadn't received my details at all."

Daniel alleges that two weeks later the Swansea office told him they had his pass certificate and needed his new address.

But the next time the former Broughton High School pupil contacted the DVLA, he was told they did not have his documents.

He said: "I wrote a number of letters and continued to ring them but it got nowhere.

"Then they told me I had missed the two-year deadline and, if I wanted a licence, I would have to take my test again. It makes me very angry because I must pay for their mistake.

"I have even got my licence number from the day I passed."

The electrician must now fork out £200 for a new licence.

A DVLA spokeswoman said: "We have spoken to this gentleman but we can't comment on individual cases because of the Data Protection Act.

"However it's company policy that if we haven't received documents within two years then the applicant must take the test again."

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