Learner drivers are being forced to wait up to six months for a practical driving test amid warnings that automated bots are hoovering up available slots and reselling them at inflated prices — while the Government struggles to recruit examiners. Labour MP Ruth Cadbury, chair of the House of Commons Transport Committee, said the situation was having a major impact on young people’s ability to take up jobs or start apprenticeships. She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday: "We’re hearing of people who can’t start a new job or an apprenticeship because they can’t drive.

"Outside of the major cities, the bus network just doesn’t sustain the kind of day-to-day lives that a lot of people need." She warned that demand for tests was massively outstripping supply and highlighted a serious shortfall in trained examiners, which she described as the “fundamental problem."

The MP for Brentford and Isleworth MP said: "We heard from both instructors’ representatives and trade union representatives that the pay and conditions are not keeping up with those in other fields, particularly being driving instructors that many people who might be examiners might want to go to."

While the DVSA has committed to hiring 450 new examiners, Ms Cadbury said just 225 had been recruited so far. She explained: "They're still only consulting on changes to terms and conditions."

She also raised concerns about the role of bots in the ongoing chaos. She said: "If the Eavis family can stop reselling of Glastonbury tickets, you’d have thought a government agency could do that."

She warned that the DVSA's computer system was outdated and likely to take five years to fully modernise. In the meantime, learners are being forced to travel long distances just to get a test.

She said: "I’ve got a young constituent who’s now going to have to wait four months, living in west London, but he’s going to have to go to Swansea to get his test."

The Transport Committee is demanding regular updates from Roads Minister Lilian Greenwood and has vowed to keep pressure on the government. She said: "We’re going to stay on the case."

Previous reports by Sky News have highlighted how bots are being used to bulk-reserve test slots through the DVSA website before reselling them at inflated prices via third-party operators. The agency has said such activity violates its terms of use, although it is not illegal.

Driving instructor Aman Sanghera, based in west London, told Sky: "All of the tests are taken by bots, they are definitely taking over the booking system."

She added: "No matter how fast I am, there's nothing available."

Ms Sanghera also warned that some instructors were being approached by scammers offering to exploit their professional booking privileges, and said learners were being forced to turn to unofficial sites charging hundreds of pounds more for the same slots.

The DVSA said it was working to enhance its bot protection and was preparing a consultation to "tighten terms and conditions" and streamline the system.

Fresh figures published on Friday show the crisis is deepening. There were just 466,000 practical tests taken between January and March this year — a 17% drop compared with the 560,000 conducted during the same period in 2023, according to DVSA data analysed by the RAC Foundation and the PA news agency.

Meanwhile, the backlog of future bookings reached a record high of 583,000 as of March 31. The average wait time for a test stood at 20 weeks in February, up from 14 weeks the year before, with the number of centres reporting the maximum 24-week wait almost doubling from 94 to 183.

RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding said: "Whichever way you look at it, the picture is not encouraging. The test backlog is stuck stubbornly at a post-Covid high."

He said: "Understandable anxiety about being able to get a test slot is itself helping clog up the system. Candidates are making early bookings in the hope that they'll be ready to pass when test day arrives, though failure rates suggest many won't be."

The pass rate for tests taken in March stood at 49.0%, up from 46.9% the previous year. As of February, only 14 test centres across the country were meeting the DVSA's nationwide target of a maximum seven-week wait.

The Department for Transport said it hoped to reduce waiting times through recent measures, including a restriction on late changes to bookings and the recruitment of more examiners.

Express.co.uk has approached the DVSA for comment.