A Bury car repair firm has welcomed the Government’s decision to carry on with annual MOT tests.
Safety campaigners and motoring organisations had opposed plans to make vehicle check-ups less frequent.
They warned that a proposed move to two-yearly inspections would lead to “many more” deaths on the UK's roads.
Academy Group was one of the organisations who wrote to Transport Secretary Justine Greening over the proposals, pointing out concerns over road safety and jobs.
Last week, Ms Greening said she had decided to stick with the present system – but set out a series of measures designed to improve the service offered by garages. Among the suggestions are online review sites, including MOTS in industry codes of practice and sending in mystery shoppers.
Welcoming the news, Jason Mawdsley, managing director of the Academy Group, said: “I am pleased the Government has listened to the concerns over industry professionals and decided not to press ahead with changing the annual test. My main concern is that we would have had cars going round with serious, undetected faults on them, which could have been sorted out sooner.
“If the annual MOT test would have been scrapped, our roads would have been less safe, it would have cost motorists more in the long run and jobs would have been at risk in an industry which is having a tough time already. The Government has made the correct decision and I welcome it.”
The new measures were announced after official figures showed more than a quarter of tested cars had defects missed or wrongly assessed.
