DRIVING instructors are calling for the government to help out their 'forgotten trade' and give them a start date for when they can start teaching people again.

Edward Pritchett, director of Buzz Driving School based in Weymouth, has called on the government to do more to help the tens of thousands of driving instructors across the UK.

He said: "We run a four-car school, we do automatic-only and we do a lot of stuff with motorbility.

"We seem to have been totally pushed into the background by the government. We are the forgotten trade really.

"We haven't been able to work since March 23 except for teaching key workers, and they need to have all the correct documents and identification to prove it."

Mr Pritchett said he and his workers have received grants from the government's Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, but despite him saying this is not nearly enough he cannot get Universal Credit to help him make ends meet.

So far, there has been no information from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency regarding when instructors can start teaching other people, with the latest update from the DVSA chief executive Gareth Llewellyn stating: "Driving instruction and tests will only restart when the government is confident that the assessment of risk warrants it, subject to the 5 tests and further detailed scientific advice."

Mr Pritchett says that he has spoken to multiple other local driving schools and they are all having similar problems.

"At the moment we are hoping that something can be done," he said. "I think they are looking at mid-July but we don't know.

"All driving tests have been suspended and they are talking about having theory tests again with social distancing measures at test centres.

"I have got three people, all key workers, I'm teaching at the moment. It's all very strict and they have to provide evidence that they are a key worker. When they apply for a test they have to supply their supporting evidence as well.

"I would normally have 16/17 pupils at the moment so it's been a struggle and I have three instructors to keep happy as well.

"I want the government to sit up and take notice of driving instructors in this country. It is an important industry because people want to learn how to drive for lots of reasons.

"I just don't understand why we can teach key workers but not the public when we are already doing all the safety precautions and face masks and everything already."