SOUTH WOODFORD: Trainee driving instructor hits out at anti-learner campaign (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

SOUTH WOODFORD: Trainee driving instructor hits out at anti-learner campaign

3:01pm Friday 15th January 2010

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A TRAINEE driving instructor has hit out at residents on an affluent South Woodford estate who have complained about learner motorists.

Stuart Verney, 40, who has lived on the Firs Estate for 14 years and is now almost qualified as a driving instructor with the AA, said: “I know it can be annoying, but if they're not doing it there, they'll be doing it somewhere else.

“It's perfectly legal for them to be there.”

Residents claim learners are a 'blight' on the estate but Mr Verney added that he believes crime levels have been reduced by the numbers of trainee drivers who use it.

Mr Verney said: “They came pretty close to removing all the learner drivers from the estate about a decade ago.

“An agreement was drawn up to retreat from the estate for a time but then the crime rate went up.”

He said the presence of learner drivers kept the estate from appearing deserted and that this deterred criminals.

“Driving instructors have even reported crimes,” Mr Verney said.

Mr Verney also described how he himself had been on the receiving end of verbal abuse from a resident as he trained for his driving instructor's qualification.

He said: “I was doing a reverse park and this woman came up in a people carrier and told me to do it somewhere else and I was a b***** nuisance.

“I'm a fully qualified driver – I passed my test 20 years ago. I was half tempted to get out and say I'm not a learner. The anger was so unprovoked.”

He added: "She then proceeded to block us in. If this is what learners have to put up with, I feel sorry for them."

Residents of the Firs Estate have been staunchly campaigning for 10 years to have learner drivers barred from the estate without success.

The council has said it cannot install “access only” signs as they would be too difficult to enforce.

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