RESIDENTS have listed a catalogue of headaches caused by learner drivers as they continue to 'blight' a South Woodford estate despite recent icy conditions.

People living on the Firs Estate say learners from numerous driving schools have damaged parked cars, crashed into garden walls and caused potholes in the street.

The latest raft of complaints about the practice of taking novice motorists onto the estate comes as some driving instructors were spotted taking pupils out on dangerously slippery roads.

John Swallow, 84, said: “It's a completely unacceptable volume of extra traffic. It travels slowly and erratically.

“Some of these instructors, in my opinion, ought not to be teaching a mouse, let alone a human being.”

Trainee motorists have been using the estate for up to a decade as it is seen as a “nursery” route, residents say.

John Whiteman, 76, said: “Everyone's got to learn to drive but the standards are far worse than they ever used to be.

“They don't give way anymore.”

He described an incident with one learner driver in which a woman was forced to mount the kerb in order get past.

Mr Whiteman said: “The majority are novices or first-time drivers. They come out of side-turnings without out braking.

“It's very difficult to know what to do about it.”

The council has refused to put in “access only” signs, saying they would be too difficult to enforce, but added it is sympathetic to the problem.

The Guardian is awaiting a response from RED Driving School after a learner was snapped in continuing icy conditions on the estate yesterday.