Local motorists caught up in MOT centre mayhem

MOTORISTS across the county have been left in limbo after thousands of car tests have been cancelled due to ongoing issues at MOT centres.

The crisis follows an inspection of vehicle lifts in the North’s MoT centres that detected ‘signs of cracking’ in 48 out of 55 lifts.

The DVA has said it could ‘take weeks or possibly months’ to resolve the issues, and they are currently working to contact all owners of taxis and four-year-old cars to book them in for MOT tests in the coming days.

However, two new lifts have gone into operation to ease the massive backlog and priority is being given to those with MOTs that have expired, so motorists can tax their vehicles.

A spokesman for the DVA said, “Heavy goods vehicles and buses will continue to be processed, while opening hours will be extended to increase capacity to facilitate the prioritisation of four-year-old vehicles and taxis with imminent expiry dates.”

The Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) said inspections of lift faults in test centres did not provide “sufficient assurance” on the effectiveness of ongoing repairs.

Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon said two reviews will be carried out to investigate how this occurred. The first review will investigate the timeline and events that led up to the situation while the second review will advise on the steps to return MOT centres urgently to a position where a full testing service can be provided.

Car owners whose appointments have been cancelled by the DVA will be issued automatically with an MOT exemption certificate extending their MOT for four months. They can therefore continue to drive however, customers are advised to make their insurance company aware.

The DVA advised that the exemption certificate will allow customers to tax their vehicles as normal, but these exemptions will not be issued for four-year-old cars or taxis.