DRIVEN by dreams of becoming driving instructors, husband and wife Gareth and Joanne Mott put their future on the line to take their final exam.

After a year of tests and 40 hours of training, the couple became trainee instructors, and had just six months to pass their sternest challenge.

Candidates can take their final exam only three times, which only 30 per cent of all original applicants pass. If they failed, the pair who gave up their jobs to devote time to the final test, would be forced to find new employment and wait two years to retake the exam.

But Mr and Mrs Mott, of Penn Hill Road, Calne, passed first time on the same day last month.

"It was quite a risk and we did lose a few nights' sleep, but it's paid off," said 27-year-old Mrs Mott.

"It's going absolutely fantastically. A lot of people say why haven't you got grey hair, it must be very stressful. But what people forget is the instructor is in control all the time.

"Those pedals do tend to save your life and it only takes a second to grab the steering wheel."

Mr Mott, 27, said finding time to study for his new career around his old job at Decuninck, in Calne, was extremely difficult.

The couple, who have a six-year-old daughter Katelyn, said they both enjoyed driving and last year decided they wanted a career where they could pass their passion on to others.

They enrolled with The Instructor College, in Bristol, in May 2002.

The couple are now self-employed in a Safeway operated franchise.