LEARNER drivers desperate to avoid sitting a written examination have sent waiting lists for driving tests in Preston soaring as the July 1 deadline approaches.

According to a British School of Motoring survey, waiting times in the town have risen from six to nine weeks in the space of six months.

And nationwide waiting times are as high as 16 weeks, making the new Theory Test a reality for many learner drivers.

The pressure of the panic is being felt by the Government agency overseeing the introduction of the new test - the first fundamental change of the driving test since 1935.

BSM says the Driving Standards Agency is virtually impossible to contact by telephone or letter.

BSM head of public relations Martin Arnold commented: "It is a nightmare situation for learner drivers at the moment. It is taking as long as five weeks to get a response to a letter from the DSA and the telephone and fax is constantly engaged. The rush to sit the existing driving test is definitely taking its toll."

BSM Preston branch manager Bernard Halliday said: "Learners should be putting in for their test now or else they are going to be taking both. People who have to sit the Theory Test shouldn't worry because if they prepare for it there will be no problem. What people won't be able to do is just swot up on their highway code the night before."

The exact location of Preston's first Theory Test has yet to be announced. Appointments to sit it can not be made for at least another month. Ring BSM's freephone advice line on 0800 700 800.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.