'I am stuck,' says mum facing driving test delays
The test centre in Penzance, which has been closed since April for maintenance, has only operated for two days a week since the pandemic. Learner drivers and instructors said it meant tests were hard to come by in a rural area where being able to drive was vital.
Rosanna Allen, from The Lizard peninsula, said: "My son's only two and I would love to be able to just take him to the park... I feel a lot of guilt."
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) said it was recruiting more examiners but it did not currently have the capacity to increase testing in Penzance.
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Ms Allen said she had her test cancelled when the centre shut temporarily and it was proving costly.
"A large chunk of what I earn is going into driving lessons," she said.
"Now I'm having to wait an extra eight weeks, that's another several hundred of pounds on more lessons, and so it's really just frustrating I'm having to wait so long."
She said not been able to drive was extremely limiting.
"My son's only two and I would love to be able to just take him to the park, see his grandparents, or to the doctors," she said.
"I feel a lot of guilt I can't do those simple things for him.
"I am stuck, and I think the DVSA just seem to disregard the massive impact that not driving has on a lot of people in rural areas."
The Penzance centre was due to reopen next month, staffed on a part-time basis by examiners from Camborne.
Instructor Mark Squire wanted more examiners to be hired so the centre could operate full time.
"If we were open another day and then gradually got it back to normal we could start to clear the backlog," he said.
"We all know how nerve-racking it is taking a test and if you end up in an area that you've not learnt, that's even more nerve-racking."
DVSA figures for April showed waiting times to book a test in Cornwall were about 24 weeks.
The government pledged to recruit an extra 450 examiners to bring average waiting times down to seven weeks by the end of the year.
Andrew George, Liberal Democrat MP for St Ives, said a driver's licence was fundamental for people to access work and education.
He called on the government to make a "significant increase" in new examiners in west Cornwall.
"I'm pleased they see there is a problem, but I wish they would actually address it in areas like ours so we get parity with the rest of the country," he said.
"On a peninsula you can't go north, south, or west to be able to take up opportunities at other test centres.
"We need to have a greater resource to maintain shorter waiting periods for tests."
The DVSA said it kept its centres under review but it did not have the resources to increase the number of tests in Penzance.
Pauline Reeves, director of driver services, said: "Since December, we've made significant progress on implementing our plan to reduce waiting times. But we know that our customers are not seeing the immediate effects of the measures.
"The further action which the Secretary of State announced will help us to accelerate those measures, including expanding training capacity for newly recruited driving examiners so more of them can start carrying out driving tests sooner."
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