After several delays, the Department for Transport MoT consultation is expected to be issued in the near future.

It is widely expected to investigate the viability of delaying the first MoT test until vehicles are four years old.

According to plans laid out earlier, vehicles would then only be checked every two years (4-2-2). Vehicles currently receive their first MoT test at three years old, and are then re-tested annually (3-1-1).

“Much of the MoT test sector could disappear within a year if the Government extend MoT test intervals,” said Stephen Coles, head of MoT operations at the RMIF.

“A move from a 3-1-1 testing programme to a 4-2-2 will mean that many cars will not need to be tested. We will see thousands of MoT testing stations forced to shut down, and many thousands of qualified testers made redundant, perhaps half of all the testers in the UK.”

Coles also warned that if the MoT fee structure was deregulated MoT testing stations could be forced into a price war that would decimate the industry.