Swindon driving instructors have vowed to fight plans to send them back to school.

At a meeting at the Lawn Community Centre, instructors said they would consider strike action if the Driving Standards Agency fails to back down over plans to make them take hazard perception tests.

Instructors nationwide have been told that they must sit the basic test, which all pupils have taken for the past year.

And if they fail on the third attempt they will be struck of the register. For the time being, Swindon's instructors are keeping in close contact with colleagues across the country.

Phil Brown of Safeway Driving School in Woodhall Park, said: "At the moment we are waiting to see what will develop and we're networking with other instructors. It's a case of safety in numbers."

He added that he has asked Swindon MP Michael Wills to make their objections known.

"We are all angry. Some of us have been instructing for 20 years or more and now we're being asked to do a video game-style exam. This is an insult."

Chris Lee, spokeswoman of the DSA said: "It is important those who are teaching students have a grasp of the test themselves."