More than two million motorists have chosen not to take advantage of the MoT extension

Published 23 June 2020

Over two million vehicles have been for an MoT test since the beginning of April, rather than take advantage of the six-month MoT extension.

Some 1.4 million MoTs were carried out in May 2020, but the number of MoT tests last month was still 61 per cent lower than in May 2019 - according to new research by Motorway.

A total of 2,153,768 MoTs have been carried out since the grace period came into force on 30 March, compared to 7,166,056 carried out at this time last year.

According to DVSA figures, 1,407,611 drivers took their vehicles in for an MoT during May, almost double the number of tests during April (746,157).

>>> Premium car owners more likely to get MoT done despite extension

Despite this increase, a substantial number of motorists did decide to take advantage of the extension, with MoT tests last month down two-thirds (61 per cent) on the number of tests in May 2019.

>>> Check the most common MoT failures for your car

The following table shows postcode areas where the most MoTs were carried out in May 2020