A single dad fears losing his son as he becomes yet another victim of the DVLA backlog.

Paul D'urso has been waiting 14 months for medical checks and was given a deadline before his current licence lapses.

Paul tells how stressful the last year has been

This week he has been contacted by the medical centre and given their only available appointment this month to get the tests completed.

The plasterer has a heart condition known as atrial fibrillation, meaning he has an irregular heart beat.

He had surgery around six years ago and ever since has been on a yearly medical driving licence undergoing annual checks and renewals.

But last year, the DVLA told him it was unable to get his medical tests sorted because of Covid.

It has been 14 months since Paul’s licence expired, although he has been allowed to drive. But in February he was given 12 weeks to get the checks done.

The 50-year-old said: "I could not get through to the medical team. They are sending me to people who will not allow me to do [the medical].

"It seems to me everyone is using Covid as an excuse. I just think it is wrong. We need stuff done, I cannot have my licence taken away. What do I do? I cannot do anything.

"I am running out of time. These are people's lives they are messing with."

Paul, who lives in Glencoe Road, Chatham, only needed to have the annual check-ups five times before he would be issued a 10-year driving licence but now fears it will all be taken away.

If this is the case, he says he will not be able to drop his son Kaden, 13, to school at Rainham Mark Grammar School meaning he will have to walk 25 minutes to get to a bus stop and then take multiple buses.

He said: "It means I cannot get my boy to school. At the end of the day if it gets too hard he might want to go to live with his nan who lives 10 minutes away from the school.

"I take what I do [as a single-dad] seriously. It is getting mentally hard on top of everything else.

"The last thing I need is this stress of thinking my licence will be taken away or that I will be deemed a bad father because I cannot get my kid to school.

"It is not just affecting me but my son as well.

"I am sure I am not the only one sitting here waiting", he added. "It is affecting people in so many different ways.

"It is very stressful. This could drive people insane. It is getting a lot harder."

Paul was sent to The Shepway Medical Centre in Northumberland Road, Maidstone, by the driving agency but has not been able to book an appointment over the phone.

He said he had not gone there in person as he believed he still would not be seen, and said he doesn’t have time to drive down there to sit and wait to see someone.

Paul has since been contacted this week and been given the only available slot at the end of the month but he claims the centre cannot handle the amount of cases being sent through by the DVLA which is why it has taken so long for him to secure a space.

Although not speaking on a specific case, a DVLA spokesman said: "When considering an application to issue a driving licence we aim to make a decision as quickly as possible.

"However more complex transactions, for example if medical investigations are needed, will take longer.

"Where we require additional information from a driver’s doctor or need the driver to take an assessment we are wholly reliant on receiving this information before a decision can be made."

During the pandemic many DVLA medical checks were deprioritised by the NHS while the focus was on clinical need and were temporarily paused again in December and January to support the vaccine booster rollout. This impacted processing times for applications needing medical investigations.

Last week, we reported how a Higham man's car has been languishing on his drive for a year while he waits for his provisional licence so he can start to have lessons, while a mum in Gravesend fears for her future work prospects after waiting more than a year for her licence to be renewed.