A DRIVING school has said it cannot confirm whether its instructors took pupils out in icy conditions on a South Woodford estate.

A number of readers said they had spotted learner drivers out with instructors from schools including RED Driving School in the Firs Estate, despite recent sheet ice.

A spokeswoman for RED said: “Without being present at the time, we cannot comment on the condition of the Firs Estate roads.

“We have a number of instructors who work in the South Woodford area, therefore making it difficult to confirm whether a RED Driving School car was giving a pupil a lesson at the time and place suggested.”

However, the Guardian's photos show a RED driving instructor practising manoeuvres with a pupil on apparently icy roads within the estate.

The spokeswoman added: “We can confirm that no incidents have been reported involving RED Driving School’s cars and are confident in the knowledge that our driving instructors are highly-trained professionals who take the safety of their learner drivers and other road users incredibly seriously.

“They would only take a learner driver out on a lesson if they felt it was safe to do so.”

She also said the AA had praised an instructor for helping a pupil to negotiate snow and ice and that this was the best time to learn to deal with bad weather conditions.

Residents of the Firs Estate have been campaigning for a decade to have learner drivers banned from their area.

They recently stepped up the campaign with the threat of legal action against the council, as well as a letter to the secretary of state for transport about the problem.

The council has rebuffed repeated requests for “access only” signs to be installed, saying they would be too difficult to enforce.