Transport Malta said it was seeking a solution to complaints by motoring schools that access to the Floriana site where tests are held has been restricted since the arrival of Autobuses de Leon.

The new restrictions mainly affect schools training people to acquire a motorbike licence.

Training on site is important because half the test is based on challenging manoeuvres that can only be practised effectively at the same place where the driver is tested for the licence.

Recreating the manoeuvres elsewhere does not lead to the same level of proficiency and cannot guarantee the trainee will master them at the first attempt during the test on site.

Motoring schools used to regularly take trainees to the site throughout the day on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, allowing them to practise in the same environment as the test. Now they are being turned away as Autobuses de Leon is using the test site to train its bus drivers even though the company has at its disposal another site at Ħal Far.

Transport Malta said the company still had access to the Ħal Far site but the Floriana site was also required “due to the volume of new bus drivers being trained”.

It said motoring schools could, meanwhile, use the site to prepare their candidates on test dates after 4pm.

Yet, instructors feel this is not an adequate solution as candidates had different schedules and could not necessarily attend lessons at a definite time on three specific days a week.

The authority said the arrangement was not a permanent one. Meanwhile, it will be discussing the problem with motoring school representatives to find a solution.

Last month, Spanish company Autobuses de Leon took over the public transport service.

It said it would increase its complement by 300 to some 1,000 employees by the end of the year as it planned to expand the route network and add another 142 new buses to its fleet.