A TEENAGER'S driving test came to an abrupt end when he and the examiner were dragged from their car by two fleeing robbers.The 18-year-old was just twenty minutes into the test and about to begin a reverse manoeuvre when the robbers commandeered the car.

A TEENAGER'S driving test came to an abrupt end when he and the examiner were dragged from their car by two fleeing robbers.

The 18-year-old was just twenty minutes into the test and about to begin a reverse manoeuvre when the robbers commandeered the car.

The two men had targeted the Post Office in Holland Road, Clacton, and snatched a cash box from a security guard.

The pair ran outside only to find their getaway motorcycle had been blocked in by another vehicle, preventing their escape.

They then went into nearby Skelmersdale Road and confronted the driving pupil and his examiner.

The pupil, who had been taught by Tendring School of Motoring, and his examiner were pulled from the vehicle and left standing as the men sped off.

Marc Shadbolt, of Tendring School of Motoring, was waiting at Clacton driving test centre for his pupil to return.

He said: "The first I knew of it was when a member of the public in the area got my number off the top of the car and rang to say was there any reason why my car would be travelling so quickly with two men wearing crash helmets inside it?

"I was obviously very concerned and didn't know what to think. As soon as I had hung up I rang the police but they had already been made aware of the incident."

Mr Shadbolt said the pupil, who lives in Clacton, had not passed his test because the incident happened close to the beginning of it.

He added: "The pupil seems okay, he's a good lad and he's fine. It hasn't been a good day for him at all."

The teenager had been taking his first driving test.

Mr Shadbolt said the average waiting time for a new test was seven weeks but he hoped to get his pupil booked in earlier under the circumstances.

The car, a red Ford Fiesta, was later found abandoned in Claire Road industrial estate in Kirby Cross.

The cash box was dumped, with the money still inside, in Bedford Road.

A spokesman for Clacton police said the robbers had been waiting inside the Post Office and wrestled the cash box from the security guard when he walked in. No weapons were used in either incident.

A spokeswoman for the Driving Standards Agency said: "The male instructor went home straight after the incident - everyone was very shaken up.

"We are working very closely with the police on the matter."

?A man was last night being questioned by police on suspicion of robbery.