Nelson Driving Test Centre in Lancashire has closed after 40 years. The facility will be relocated as the DVSA continues to upgrade its driving test centres across the UK. Here’s what you need to know…
After operating from the same building for over 40 years, Nelson Driving Test Centre in Lancashire closed its doors recently and announced that it would be relocating to a new facility. The old building in Cobden Street was deemed ‘unsuitable’ and ‘outdated’ by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) during a visit in 2016.
Where will the new Nelson Driving Test Centre be located?
The new, Nelson Driving Test Centre will be based at unit 103 – 105 Pendle Business Centre on Commercial Road in Nelson. The venue was chosen in a bid to provide improved facilities for learner drivers and driving instructors.
DVSA officials submitted plans to convert offices 103, 104 and 105 at the business centre into a new driving test facility, back in 2017. The process of finding a new location for driving tests in Nelson began after the DVSA described facilities at the Cobden Street building as ‘going downhill.’
In a letter to Andrew Stephenson, the Conservative Party MP for Pendle in Lancashire, the DVSA wrote: “The examiners’ office is now starting to deteriorate and the internal walls are cracking and the female toilets are often out of order.”
“There are only three parking bays for candidates, and with an increase in the number of examiners, we now require at least six bays,” the letter said.
How far away is the new Nelson Driving Test Centre?
The new facility is based just two streets away from the former Cobden Street building, which means that driving test routes are likely to remain the same.
Meanwhile, new driving test figures revealed that Nelson driving test centre recorded a pass rate of 53.7 per cent, making it the best centre in East Lancashire for taking a practical driving test.
The Nelson test centre had 3,103 drivers pass the test out of 5,780, representing a pass percentage increase from 46.7 per cent in the previous year and up from 45.5 per cent in 2014/15.
One driver, who passed his test in Nelson, recalled passing his practical exam on 10 August, 1971. His driving examiner was an S. Brookes and the test centre was at Edgar Street.
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