A reprieve looks set for East Kilbride's driving test centre after the Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) locked horns with the town's Legion branch.
The DVSA closed the test centre at Halfords at the Kingsgate retail park in 2016 but a deal was struck after Legion Scotland in EK offered their premises on a part-time basis.
Since it opened in 2017, the test centre increased its operations to five days a week.
However, recent talks over renegotiating a contract stalled - with disagreement over who should be footing the bill for the heating of the large hall where the examiners are based.
The Legion said as a charity, they couldn't afford to foot the £1000 per month heating bills and said the DVSA had been "unwilling to move" on this.
As a result the DVSA said last month they would vacate the Legion in December and would look for a new test centre in the town after their lease "was terminated".
This led to fears that students in East Kilbride would have to go to Hamilton or Baillieston to sit their test.
Both EK MP, Dr Lisa Cameron, and MSP Collette Stevenson said it was "vital" a test centre remained in the town.
However, the Legion told Lanarkshire Live after ongoing talks an agreement had been reached.
Chairman, Bobby Russell, said: "We are delighted to have agreed on terms and that the test centre will be staying in East Kilbride beyond December.
"We never wanted to lose the test centre but, as a charity, we couldn't move forward with the current terms in place.
"Our income streams have been decimated by Covid and we simply don’t have the money coming in that we once had."
MP, Ms Cameron, said: "I am delighted the DVSA test centre will remain in East Kilbride at our Legion – I personally visited the facilities and made representations to DVSA that appropriate costs required to be covered and that East Kilbride, Scotland’s sixth largest community, fully required to retain its dedicated test centre."
A DVSA spokesman added that an "agreement has been reached in principle over terms" and was awaiting final sign-off.
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