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The British Motorcyclists Federation (BMF) has accused the UK's Driving Standards Authority (DSA) of giving an unnecessary level of precedence to new EU legislation.

In the BMF's opinion, the DSA has gone further than any other member state in implementing the EU's second driving license directive - most notably in restricting motorcycle testing to areas above a certain size.

According to the Federation, this means that many existing test centres, which are within a reasonable distance from most motorcyclists' homes, will be closed down and testing moved to larger super centres that are also more remote.

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BMF spokesman Jeff Stone commented: "The EU directive is stringent enough and has been accepted elsewhere in Europe so we can't see why the DSA have added this extra bit of 'gold plating'.

"The effects on learner motorcyclists will be dramatic and worse still, they will have been unfairly and unjustly treated compared to those in other EU states."

The BMF warns that the opening of new testing centres will cost over £80 million, to be recouped by increasing the price of a motorcycle test - from £58 currently to £64 by 2008.

It is also aggrieved that whereas the directive calls for two slow speed manoeuvres to be introduced, the DSA has brought in four: riding at walking pace, performing a slalom, a figure of eight and a U-turn.

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