Spalding family's dismay after another man's licence was sent to wrong address

A teenager who has been eagerly awaiting his provisional licence was shocked to receive another man’s driving documents though the post.

Archie Hodson had submitted a postal application for his provisional driving licence in October around the time of his 17th birthday.

However, his family was shocked to receive the driving licence of a 37-year-old man arrive at their home in West Parade, Spalding, last week.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) says this is a result of the other man inputting the wrong address into his application and Mr Hodson should receive his licence shortly.

Mr Hodson’s mum Leeann is angry that the mistake has happened and is concerned about the whereabouts of the identification documents sent with the application.

She said: “I am appalled as these are important identification documents.

“It is dangerous and more care should be taken to protect these documents.”

Mrs Hodson said her son, who attends Spalding High School’s sixth form, is keen to receive his driving licence.

She said: “We bought Archie a moped for his birthday but he cannot ride it until he receives his provisonal licence.

“He is getting fed up with hanging around and having to rely on lifts from us.

“He is wanting his independence and this is holding him back.”

The DVLA says it handles millions of transactions every year and that paper applications are processed as quickly as possible.

It also stated that Mr Hodson’s licence ‘is not subjected to any delays, having been received on October 14.

The spokesman said the licence and ID documents will be returned to him in due course.

A DVLA spokesperson said: “Our online services are the quickest way to renew a provisional licence.

“We are currently processing paper applications for provisional licences from October 12 and are processing these as quickly as possible in the order we receive them.

“The driving licence your reader received was sent to the address provided on the application.”

Earlier this year teenagers across the area have been waiting for provisional licences to be issued following lockdown.