I HAVE become very concerned by the mushrooming number of mobility scooters in the area.

My concerns are that not only do pedestrians run the gauntlet of cyclists illegally riding on the pavement but now both pedestrians and drivers have to contend with mobility scooters being driven both on pavements and, very dangerously, on the road.

I have witnessed numerous occasions when drivers have had to brake viciously or swing out onto the opposite side of the road because the mobility scooter driver has done some manoeuvre on the main road, like suddenly swing off the pavement into the road, or go up a one-way street the wrong way or ignore traffic lights (a lot of cyclists do this).

This can be made worse by the gestures and expletives directed at the car drivers when they sound their horn or remonstrate with the scooter driver.

Whilst I appreciate that these scooters give people mobility that they would otherwise not have and are a great boon to their users (my mother-in-law had one and would have been house-bound without it), they are completely unregulated.

No test, no MOT and no road tax.

I recently heard of a registered blind person using one.

This is an accident waiting to happen and, unfortunately, it will be the motorist who will be pilloried when someone is injured or killed driving a scooter.

Isn’t it about time that at least training courses are put on, and made compulsory, before anyone is allowed on the road.

P Spicer

Stonehouse