'I passed my driving test at 74 - it was now or never'

When Linda Ning first attempted a driving test in the mid 1970s, she did not imagine she would not pass for another 50 years.

Defeated and out of money for lessons, Linda, then in her mid-twenties, decided to put off retaking her test until a later date.

Originally from York, she got married and moved to London where frequent buses, trains and tube services meant driving dropped off her list of priorities.

But when she moved back to North Yorkshire in 2020, she realised getting around the area was "very tricky" without a car.

"I said to my husband, Michael, that one of us needed to learn to drive," Linda, now 74, said.

"It all started because there is a particular church we wanted to attend in Ripon.

"When we looked into it, there were no buses on a Sunday and there's no train station."

On another occasion, Linda became fed up with trudging around with bags of shopping.

"I thought, 'this is crazy, I'm not a girl anymore', so that's when I had a serious talk with my husband," she said.

"I just said it's now or never, time's running out, if I can get ten years driving, I think it's going to really help."

Navigating the roads around York's housing estates during her lessons, Linda found the roads and the car she was driving were very different to her first experience behind the wheel.

Fifty years earlier, there were only 14 million cars on UK roads, rather than the 34 million today, and the A64 York bypass had not yet opened.

Linda also swapped an old Ford Anglia for an automatic Peugeot 208.

"I was so terrified the first time I drove it," she said.

"You've got to take in so many things, look at the signs, look at the traffic, but I got to grips with it.

"I've wanted to drive for years and I've got to the stage now where I actually enjoy it."

After five months of lessons with AA instructor Nuray Inal, Linda passed on 17 January.

"It's a great achievement," she said.

"At first, I didn't think about my age, it was just that I'd passed and it was sorted out."

Keen to get out on the roads, an electric Peugeot will be delivered to Linda on Wednesday, although she had been tempted to splurge on a Tesla.

She opted to keep her car simple for now and was looking forward to her first trip out with her friend.

"We're going on a really exciting trip to Sainsbury's because there's a couple of roundabouts there," Linda said.

"It's just going to be me with no instructor or dual controls."

"I've got to get the feel of driving and get really used to my own car."

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