Motorist, 89, takes up challenge after comedian's TV jibe

AN 89-YEAR-OLD Westerham motorist has rubbished claims elderly drivers should get off the road and take a course for an advanced motoring qualification.

Veteran driver Fergus Anckorn, of Hollingworth Way, took on the challenge after stand-up comedian Jo Brand said she wanted to get rid of "silly old gits driving cars" on popular television programme Room 101.
He said: "She said they should take another driving test at 70, and that their driving licences should be taken away when they reached 80. All of this incensed me.

"I admit there are a lot of silly old fellows driving, but some are not. So I decided to strike a blow for them."

Mr Anckorn, who drove army lorries into battle in the second world war and survived for three years working on the Death Railway linking Thailand to Burma, as a Japanese prisoner of war, promptly took the tough 90-minute Institute of Advanced Motorists' test and passed with flying colours.

He said: "I was already a member of the institute, having taken the examination about 50 years ago. They asked if I just wanted a reappraisal, but I insisted on taking the full test again.

"The examiner was kind enough to say: 'I wouldn't mind in the least sitting in the back of your car wearing a blindfold'. The sign of a good driver is that he doesn't make his passenger nervous."

Mr Anckorn, who is a member of the prestigious Inner Magic Circle and still works as a conjuror and has been an active member of the Knole Lodge of Freemasons for half a century, was awarded a new certificate by the institute.

He then wrote a stinging letter to Brand, a former Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Girls pupil, telling her about his achievement.

Mr Anckorn said: "I told her exactly what I had done, adding that she should not generalise. I asked her whether she had passed the advanced driving test. This was something of a challenge to Ms Brand. Naturally, she hasn't replied. I didn't expect her to."