NEWPORT'S driving test centre is to close, leaving learner drivers with miles to travel to get licences.

And driving intructors in the city believe the move will leave learners out-of-pocket because they will need to double the length of their lessons.

The Driving Standards Agency announced yesterday that it will close its Godfrey Road centre, where it has been based for nine years, at the end of October this year.

The move is blamed on the new owners of the building, Clytha Developments Ltd, which has asked the DSA to leave so the building can be turned into flats.

And until an alternative site in Newport is found, learners will have to travel to an alternative test centre.

The nearest is six miles away in Cwmbran while the others are at Cardiff (14 miles), Abergavenny (18 miles), Pontypridd (19 miles), Monmouth (23 miles), and Merthyr Tydfil (25 miles).

Clive Tucker, the DSA's area manager for Wales, said: "We have been searching for a replacement test centre in Newport but so far we have been unable to identify a suitable alternative which would allow us to continue to provide a service in Newport beyond October.

"Rest assured that these searches are continuing and we are keen to maintain a presence in the area."

But Newport's driving instructors say that to familiarise learners with the Cwmbran roads will mean having to book longer lessons.

And there are worries that the new test centre may not be able to cope with demand. Newport tested 3,834 learners in 2003.

Alan Jones, a Newport driving instructor and chairman of the Gwent Driving Instructor Association, said: "Newport is a premier test centre and it's the biggest in Gwent, probably able to do about 32 tests a day. "It's going to be financially more difficult for learners.

"And the volume of learners wanting tests at Cwmbran is going to be a problem. Cwmbran might not be able to cope.

"We're talking to Newport city council to see if it has got anywhere suitable but at the moment there's nothing to meet our requirements." Driving instructor Graham Evans agreed: "I'd say there will be significant delays once news of this gets around because people will try and cram their tests in."