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Plans by the Driving Standards Authority (DSA) to increase the cost of taking a motorcycling theory test have been heavily criticised by one industry figure.

Under the new proposal submitted by the DSA, the price of this particular test would rise from £21.50 to £28.50, which Motorcycle Rider Training Association (MRTA) chairman Nigel Osborne says amounts to nothing less than a "stealth tax" on riders.

Mr Osborne claimed that while he did not oppose DSA plans to raise the number of questions contained within the theory test to 50, he felt that the suggested price change would simply be putting another £10 million into the agency's already bulging coffers.

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The MRTA head explained: "It is not helpful for the industry if motorcyclists feel they are being unfairly victimised by a hugely disproportionate increase.

"After all, the government is supposed to be encouraging people to use more environmentally-friendly forms of transport - raising the costs for then doing so is hardly a step forward!"

He warned that the Retail Motor Industry Federation, of which his own association is a component, would not stand for this proposal and would vigorously oppose it in all further consultations on the matter.

The DSA has already been criticised this year for planning to restrict practical rider testing to areas above a certain side, which the British Motorcyclists Federation claimed would also make taking the test more expensive for budding bikers.

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