Strike action taking place today and tomorrow will be disrupting new driving tests.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) based in Dorchester in the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) will be among those taking part in a 48 hour national strike starting today and ending at midnight on tomorrow.

This adds to the action short of a strike which began last week in a dispute over the new driving test and also working patterns.

This action has already led to hundreds of tests across the country being cancelled in the first week of the action.

In a perverse move DVSA has withdrawn overtime from striking workers and also imposed leave schedules meaning that an even greater backlog of thousands of tests is inevitable due to the imposed reductions in service. 

A ballot in October saw an 84 per cent vote for strike action on a 70 per cent turnout.

The strike action across the DVSA will see up to 14,000 driving tests cancelled on the day the new driving test is launched. 

Other effects of the action include reduced roadside checks on vehicles, reduced enforcement checks on lorries and other vehicles coming into the UK and a significant reduction of tachograph testing. 

A picket line will take place between 8am and 10am tomorrow at Dorchester Driving Test Centre on Prince of Wales Road.