New Southend Driving Test Centre officially launched
Roads Minister Mike Penning helped celebrate the official launch of the new Southend Driving Test Centre.
Mr Penning came to the town specially to lend his support to the new centre at the Tickfield Centre, Tickfield Avenue, Southend.
Southend’s former Driving Test Centre closed in 2008 when Basildon’s new Test Centre opened, but now the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) has begun testing from Tickfield.
The move is part of a strategy to offer a more local service for driving test candidates.
In areas without local test centres where there is sufficient demand, the DSA is looking at offering tests on a part-time basis from flexible premises such as community centres and other local authority buildings.
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council’s Deputy Leader, Councillor John Lamb said: “It is a huge help for learner drivers from Southend to be able to take their driving tests in an area they know well, and this will be very much welcomed by instructors too.
”We are grateful for the combined efforts of everyone who has helped towards bringing a Driving Test Centre back here.”
Road Safety Minister Mike Penning said: “I am delighted that driving tests have returned to Southend.
“We have worked very closely with the local MPs, Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, driving instructors and members of the local community to achieve this.
“I want us to be more flexible and innovative in delivering driving tests to make sure that we are offering people the best service possible wherever they live.
“Our aim is to offer a local service that is convenient for candidates as well as being cost effective.”
Tests in Southend will initially be available two days a week on a Monday and Friday.
I am the very proud owner of thebestofsouthend. My aim is to really shout about why Southend is so great & champion our local business owners who do a really great job!
We encourage local people...
The following Cookies are used on this Site. Users who allow all the Cookies will enjoy the best experience and all functionality on the Site will be available to you.
You can choose to disable any of the Cookies by un-ticking the box below but if you do so your experience with the Site is likely to be diminished.
In order to interact with this site.
To help us to measure how users interact with content and pages on the Site so we can make
things better.
To show content from Google Maps.
To show content from YouTube.
To show content from Vimeo.
To share content across multiple platforms.
To view and book events.
To show user avatars and twitter feeds.
To show content from TourMkr.
To interact with Facebook.
To show content from WalkInto.