Driving lessons and tests are to resume in England and Wales this month, with demand expected to “skyrocket”.

Both have been prohibited for much of the past 12 months due to coronavirus restrictions.

On Tuesday the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency confirmed lessons will restart on April 12, and tests on April 22.

The agency tweeted that from Monday driving lessons with instructors, all theory tests, motorcycle tests, lorry lessons and tests, car and trailer tests and minibus lessons and tests can resume.

From April 22, driving tests and ADI (approved driving instructor) parts 2 and 3 (and standards checks) can restart.

Robert Cowell, interim managing director of the AA Driving School, welcomed the confirmation, saying the organisation had had 26,371 online requests between December and mid-March from people wanting to be notified when lessons were allowed again.

He said: “After months of uncertainty this is truly welcome news for driving instructors and pupils around the country.

“More than 26,000 prospective pupils contacted us during the latest lockdown, so demand is going to skyrocket now instructors can open their books again.

“Those who started learning to drive before lockdown will now tackle the additional challenge of starting back after the long break.

“Our driving instructors are ready to help them overcome the additional challenges they have faced being a lockdown learner and we are confident many will be on the road to success very soon.”

The news comes after data analysed by the PA news agency showed that driving licence numbers among young people had fallen to the lowest level since current records began.

Just 2.97 million people in Britain aged 16-25 hold a full licence, according to analysis of Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) records.

That is down from 3.32 million in March 2020, and is the smallest total in records dating back to November 2012 when there were 3.42 million.

The decline is sharper than the fall in the number of young people in Britain over the same period.