A battle to save the Wisbech Driving Test Centre will be stepped up a gear next week.On Friday, driving instructors will present North-East Cambridgeshire MP Malcolm Moss with a petition signed by more than 4000 objectors, who claim plans to transfer tests to a new, larger multi-purpose centre on the Hardwick Industrial Estate at King's Lynn will further disadvantage people in rural areas.

By SUE SKINNER

A battle to save the Wisbech Driving Test Centre will be stepped up a gear next week.

On Friday, driving instructors will present North-East Cambridgeshire MP Malcolm Moss with a petition signed by more than 4000 objectors, who claim plans to transfer tests to a new, larger multi-purpose centre on the Hardwick Industrial Estate at King's Lynn will further disadvantage people in rural areas.

Mr Moss and North-West Norfolk MP Henry Bellingham have agreed to take the petition to the House of Commons in a bid to get the Department of Transport to think again.

Members of the Wisbech and Lynn Driver Instructor Associations say Fenland people will face a round trip of up to 56 miles to take a driving test if the closure goes ahead.

They have also raised concerns about road safety, traffic congestion, the impact on the environment and the increase in annoyance for businesses and residents caused by the additional influx of learner drivers in Lynn and the surrounding villages.

Mr Moss said: “For the cost of a desk and a telephone somewhere in Wisbech, it will cause all sorts of traffic chaos in and around King's Lynn, prolong and make more difficult the process of learning to drive for people living in Fenland and also make it more expensive.

“It's a no-brainer, typical of the nonsense that comes out of Europe.”

Mr Bellingham, who met protestors in Lynn earlier this month, said: “I haven't spoken to anyone yet who thinks that these big test centres are a good idea.”