Gillingham driving test centre closed but not because of strikes

Gillingham driving test centre was forced to close on 24 November 2015 after Legionnaire’s disease was discovered in the facility’s water.

If you were turned away from Gillingham driving test centre last Wednesday, it wasn’t because driving examiners were on strike. Apparently, the centre’s water was hit by Legionnaire’s disease.

The DVSA facility, located on Courteney Road, had to cancel practical driving tests and instead carried out testing of a different kind. It’s understood that the centre remained closed on 25 November and staff were redirecting driving test candidates to the nearby VOSA goods vehicle testing site in Ambley Road.

Candidates who had their driving exams cancelled as a result of the Gillingham driving test centre closure are being offered alternative dates, at no additional cost.

What’s Legionnaires’ disease?

Book Theory Test Today says: “Legionnaires’ disease is a serious condition that affects the lungs. It’s caused by Legionella bacteria and can be fatal to anyone that’s vulnerable to infection. It can be caught by breathing in miniscule droplets of contaminated water. However, it’s not contagious.”

Were you at Gillingham driving test centre on November 24?

If you were at Gillingham driving test centre that day, be aware of any flu-like symptoms you may be experiencing including a high temperature, fever and chills, a cough, muscle pains and a headache. However, at the time of writing, it’s believed that no one had been infected by the disease.

The DVSA’s head of operations, Phil Lloyd, said: “Gillingham driving test centre was closed as a precautionary measure after a routine water test led to the discovery of Legionnaires’ disease.”

“Scheduled driving exams at the Gillingham driving test centre are currently taking place at the goods vehicle testing site on Ambley Road [at time of writing]. Any candidate unable to take their driving test as a result of this incident will be offered an alternative test date at no extra cost to themselves,” Mr Lloyd added.

The incident at Gillingham driving test centre comes at a difficult time for the DVSA. On November 19 and 20 a two-day strike by driving examiners resulted in the closure of more than 300 of its exam facilities across the UK as they protested against increased working hours.

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This entry was posted on Monday, December 7th, 2015 at 9:00 am and is filed under Book Practical Test. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.