Shane Fennelley was awarded £614 from small claims court against One Stop Intensives, a Prince of Wales Road-based driving school, which offered him 20 hours of driving lessons across five days to prepare him for his test.

The 40-year-old, who lives in London, had paid an initial amount of £489 to the company and another £700 for lessons in Crawley - one of the company's 31 locations.

As part of the course, One Stop Intensives offers access to a practical test booking system, which it says gets students a test "80pc faster than standard waiting lists".

Shane Fennelley pictured here (Image: Arvind Badewal)

But at the end of his lessons in November 2022, Mr Fennelley did not feel ready to take the test.

He told Andy Gooda, who runs the company, he would let him know when he was confident to do so, which Mr Gooda agreed.

Ten months later, Mr Fennelley contacted Mr Gooda asking if he could have his test booked, but did not receive a response.

After several emails and phone calls went ignored, Mr Fenelley says he sent two letters to Mr Gooda warning him if he did not receive a refund of the £489, he would turn to small claims court.

In February this year, Mr Fennelley then issued bailiffs with a warrant to retrieve the £614 - which included court and warrant fees - after his judgement went unpaid.

A view of a driving instructor's car (Image: Steve Parsons / Press Association)

Mr Fennelly said: "I just feel ripped off. I'm angry and it's kind of a bit embarrassing.

"Throughout the whole ordeal I became increasingly frustrated. I followed all the processes suggested to me by Citizens Advice Bureau and small claims just to find he was going to get away with my money and I had no recourse."

In response, Mr Gooda, who claims he did not receive a county court judgement, said: "Mr Fennelly attended a five-day intensive course with one of our self-employed instructors on November 21 2022. 

"Unfortunately Mr Fennelly did not attain the DVSA standard of test readiness. He agreed to continue with extra practice until he was test ready.

"We also obtained a test for him within one month of his course, which was amazing as the official waiting list was eight months.

"We also refunded him two hours back, which he agreed to as a gesture of goodwill.

"We take great pride in our company and provide many test passes in Norfolk and Suffolk."

© Norwich Evening News