A learner driver has been left waiting more than a year for his provisional licence due to severe Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) delays.
Gareth Atkins, who works in catering, says a car given to him by his sister has been sitting on his drive for a year waiting to be used and the battery is now flat.
The 21-year-old, from Higham near Gravesend, Kent, was told his driving licence was finally on the way a few weeks ago - after 14 months.
In October, he was told the form was still with the medical team because he had an eye condition called nystagmus.
He said: “Why has it taken a year when I have been told by doctors since I was three years old that there would be no problems with me driving?
"It has been ridiculous and has become very frustrating. I just have aspirations of being free."
More than a million Brits have been caught up in a huge backlog of driving licence applications following the Covid pandemic and DVLA strikes.
Now Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has vowed to do “whatever it takes” to improve the DVLA, after delays left some drivers unable to travel or work.
The Cabinet minister said this could include possible privatisation or making the system completely digital.
Are you still waiting for your driving licence? Let us know: mirror.money.saving@mirror.co.uk
Mirror readers also told this newspaper of the extreme delays they've had when waiting for their driving licence to be renewed.
Mike said his wife applied for a driving licence renewal in November 2021 and had to use the postal service because she does not hold a passport.
"As of today there is still no sign of her renewed licence; if she needed to hire a vehicle, for example, she would now be unable to do so," he said.
Another reader, Barry, told us: "I applied online to renew my driving licence last December – a month before my 76th birthday.
"Nothing has yet arrived, even though I destroyed my old one and sent it to the DVLA, as instructed. I’m aware of the Covid delays but am now getting concerned about my status in being allowed to drive."
Mr Shapps said the backlog of delays has been cut from a peak of 1.2 million to 400,000 due to a series of measures.
He added that the delays "wouldn't be there at all if it hadn't been for an entirely unnecessary strike" at the DVLA offices in Swansea, South Wales.
Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) conducted a series of strikes as part of a campaign for more coronavirus safety measures.
The Cabinet minister told the Commons' Transport Select Committee he and Prime Minister Boris Johnson will "look at everything" to improve the DVLA.
He said: "We'll look at whether we can bring in private services to assist. I'll look at the different motoring organisations.
"We have DVLA and DVSA (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency). It's very confusing for most people.
"One does the licensing, the other one does the testing. People ask why there are two organisations.
"I'll look at all of these things. No stone will be left unturned."
Speaking to The Times, he added that the system could be digitised for simplicity.
"I ask myself why, in today's world, do we still need to have 60,000 pieces of paper arriving at DVLA everyday. What is it we still need to digitise and how can we do things more efficiently.
"The answer is to digitise it and not have to send bits of paper around," he said, adding that to have different agencies such as the DVLA and DVSA was "very confusing for most people".
