Portsmouth drivers' group forced to shut over '˜bullying' and '˜despicable' treatment claims

Portsmouth Group of Advanced Motorists (PAM) has closed after parent organisation IAM Road- Smart insisted it ‘needed to move with the times and attract a younger membership’.

It means that despite helping motorists learn advanced driving skills which reduce road collisions and improve safety, people in Portsmouth will now have to go to Guildford or Southampton to undertake training.

The move has further bewildered members from the Portsmouth group after it was recently given the accolade of being in the top 10 advanced motorist groups in the country.

Ken Avery, secretary of PAM for more than 40 years, said: ‘There has been bullying and factually incorrect emails sent out by IAM RoadSmart which was part of a concerted effort to close us down.

‘We had emails telling us to either retire or resign or appoint people who are in favour of the merger.

‘To this very day they have not given us a reason why they wanted to close down the group after 56 years of very successful operation. They said they wanted the remaining members to merge with the Guildford group – 45 miles away – which is ridiculous.

‘I personally have been a committee member and lifelong supporter of the IAM but the way they have treated the Portsmouth group has left me in a position where I can no longer support an organisation that can treat its members in such a despicable way.

‘I have personally helped thousands of people pass the advanced drivers’ test. It is disappointing people in Portsmouth will not be able to take this test in the city now.’

Ken added: ‘I would like to thank all the Portsmouth members who over these years have supported us with their membership and donations. Without their support we could not have helped all those people through the advanced driving test and arranged the bursary scheme for our younger drivers.’

Rodney Kumar, spokesperson for IAM RoadSmart, said negotiations with PAM were unsuccessful before the decision was taken to close the group.

He said: ‘The Portsmouth group numbers were dwindling and there were problems with committee members retiring or being in ill health,’ he said.

‘We’ve been undergoing a big renewal programme and because of their smaller numbers they were struggling to keep up.

‘We need to move with the times and attract a younger membership especially as they are the ones most at risk of an accident.

‘The group has changed over recent years and now we need to implement uniform standards across the whole of the UK which was different to how things were.’