Driving instructors say they're facing increasing threats and abuse from Sunderland residents following South Tyneside test centre closure
Tyne and Wear driving instructors say they are being physically and verbally threatened and abused as tensions with Sunderland residents have escalated following the closure of South Tyneside Driving Test Centre.
The centre, which was based on Jarrow’s Bede Industrial Estate, was closed in 2022.
Instructors from Sunderland and South Tyneside Drivers Association say this has “doubled” the number of learners now heading through to Sunderland’s test centre on Riverbank Road, as instructors look to familiarise students with the roads on which they are now examined.
Instructors say the increased volume of learner drivers on the surrounding roads looking to practice manoeuvres has led to increasingly aggressive conflicts with local residents.
Top Gun Driving School instructor and spokesperson for the Sunderland and South Tyneside Driving Association, Vikki Holt said: “Since the South Tyneside test centre closed, you have now basically got two boroughs worth of drivers practising on the same Sunderland roads.
“We need to use the roads around the test centre for students to practise driving as well as local streets and car parks for manoeuvres including forward, reverse, and parallel parking.
“Local residents are getting fed up and we are constantly being verbally abused, given hand gestures and being honked at and cut up by frustrated drivers.
“I’m also aware of an instructor who was physically assaulted. It is very unsettling for the students. We try to teach them to ignore it, but it can be really difficult for them when they are learning how to drive.”
Vikki cited two particularly serious incidents where driving instructors have been spat at, and in one instance physically threatened with a golf club.
She said: “There was one incident in Hylton where a home owner had become sick of learner drivers carrying out practise manoeuvres in his street.
“He put a sign on his car saying ‘No Leaner Drivers’. When one instructor I know came into his street he came out with a golf club and chased the vehicle down the road.”
Despite the threats, Vikki is sympathetic to the residents’ situation.
She said: “The roads in and around the test centre are are an absolute nightmare to get in and out of, but since the closure of the test centre in South Tyneside, our hands are tied.
“We need to familiarise our students with the roads they will be tested on - what can we do?
“Since the closure of the test centre you now have around double the amount of learners in Sunderland.”
Vikki has now set-up a petition campaigning for the reopening of the centre. The online petition has, at the time of writing, has been backed by over 1,500 supporters.
Vikki said: “Local residents in Sunderland are fed up, but reopening the test centre in South Tyneside and bringing in more examiners would solve this problem.
“Please go online and sign this petition for the reopening of South Tyneside Driving Test Centre.”
We have contacted the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and are awaiting their response.