A DRIVING instructor has slammed the published waiting times for a test as "misleading" after one pupil was told he would have to wait up to three months.

As reported in last week's Bolton Evening News, the Driving Standards Agency claimed on its website that the waiting time for a driving test in Bolton was nine weeks, the national average.

The agency blamed a lack of trained examiners for the lengthy waiting times which, it claimed, was a nationwide problem.

But Bolton-based driving instructor Dave Thomas says the situation is even worse.

He has accused the agency of publishing inaccurate waiting times after he booked a test for one of his pupils -- only to be told the earliest date to take a test in Bolton was February 6, 2004.

He said the waiting times in Bury was just as bad, with the earliest date for a test at the end of next January, compared to the published four-week wait on the agency website.

He said the "inaccurate" waiting times was damaging his business, with some pupils accusing him of holding them back from taking their test because of the figures published on the website.

Mr Thomas said: "This is a national scandal. The information on the website is misleading learner drivers. I booked a test for one of my pupils and was told the earliest time was more than 15 weeks away. That is a big difference from nine weeks.

"People have asked me why they cannot book a test earlier after they read in the Bolton Evening News website that the waiting times was nine weeks.

"They think we are trying to hold them back, which is not the case. Some of my customers have said they do not want a lesson every week because their test is so far away."

An agency spokesman said: "Waiting times for a driving test can change dramatically in a short space of time. They can go up if a driving examiner is off ill, but they can be drastically reduced if a new examiner is employed or drafted into a particular test centre.

"We are on a recruiting drive to employ new driving examiners."