Reading: New location for driving test centre

A location has been identified for a town's new driving test centre as the current site will be demolished for housing.

The existing centre in Katesgrove, Reading, will become flats, despite Reading Borough Council originally refusing the plans - developers Maxima Homes won permission after taking it to appeal with a government inspectorate.

It comes as the government has announced it will recruit more driving examiners across Berkshire amid county-wide delays and backlogs.

Lilian Greenwood, under-secretary of state for transport said it will confirm the new lcoation as soon as possible.

Greenwood added: "The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is aware that the landlord of the current driving test centre in Reading has been granted planning permission to redevelop the site.

"The DVSA has identified a new location. It is in the early stages of negotiations."

The agency is recruiting 250 driving test examiners this year and aims to recruit and train another 200 in areas "where demand is the highest".

Currently, there are test centres in Slough, Reading and Newbury in Berkshire.

Under the government's recruitment drive, there would be four new examiners in Slough and five for Reading by the end of next year.

It comes as Bracknell's MP Peter Swallow warned residents were travelling as far as the Isle of Wight, Wales and Aberdeen – 500 miles away – for tests amid a chronic shortage in the county.

Labour MP for Reading Central Matt Rodda said that the pending closure of the town's test centre in spring 2025 was "causing delays and a great deal of uncertainty for local residents".

Swallow urged the government to also consider opening a test centre in Bracknell, claiming that it would be "even better than having more driving examiners".