THOUSANDS of motorcycle tests are set to be taken at the Kassam Stadium in the coming years.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has asked Oxford City Council for planning permission to continue using the stadium car park for bike training and tests.

It comes after the council previously approved testing and training there in 2016, and the site has been used for the purpose ever since.

Submitting its request to the council to carry on using the car park, the DVSA said it was currently running 898 tests on the site every year.

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The agency seeks permission to run tests in the car park from 8am to 8pm every day but stressed that, in agreement with stadium managers, testing will not take place if the stadium is in use for a football match or other similar event.

Two examiners will continue to be based at the site, taking both off-road and on-road motorcycle tests.

The planning application submitted this month also asks for permission to carry on using a small storage facility at the site, used by the examiners.

If granted, the new permission will run for another three years.

Members of public can see the planning application at oxford.gov.uk using reference code 19/02453/FUL