PC Broadbent sat me down with the theory test questions. The last time I looked at the Highway Code was in 1992.

Some of them were common sense. I was okay on road signs, braking distances and general road awareness but I slipped up on a few answers.

Out of the 35 questions I scored 25. If questions required two answers I occasionally answered one correctly and one wrong but there are no points for half answers.

Armed with his clipboard, test sheet and extra mirrors, Keith and I went outside to the car.

He asked me to point out where various things are hidden under the engine bonnet. It would have helped if I knew how to open the bonnet. Like I said before, this wasn't my car.

Answering mechanical questions is not my forte and I found this quite difficult.

What could I remember about the rules of the road? Only a fool breaks the two second rule and mirror, signal, manoeuvre, were the two key phrases that stuck in my head.

I reminded myself to regularly look in my mirrors and stick to the speed limit. I do this everyday but somehow everything felt different.

Inside the car Keith adopted his driving test examiner role. The chit chat was over. I was scared.

Approaching the first junction out of Carleton Hall and I was beginning to feel a little hot. I wished I'd taken my coat and scarf off.

Keith asked me to turn right at the junction.

I pulled up to the junction, stopped and indicated, looked in the mirror and waited. A 38 ton wagon was coming one way and a car the other. I didn't put my handbrake on I just sat, like most of us do, with the foot on the clutch and brake. This was mistake number one.

Keith told me at the end of the test that I should have put my handbrake on. "If a car came up behind us and nudged us forward then we would have gone straight into the path of the oncoming lorry. We would both be dead," he said.

I'll remember that in future.

I drove around Penrith for a good 30 to 40 minutes following Keith's instructions. On the Penrith Industrial Estate he asked me to do a turn in the road. This was okay but the reverse parking was a different story.

Keith reminded me of the need to go slowly when I was reversing and to always check the blind spot.

We left Penrith and headed out to the country. Through my mirrors I could see a moped behind me, desperate to overtake.

We'd left the 30mph zone and I stuck to 40mph because there was mud on the road.

Up ahead I could see a cyclist. I moved out into the centre of the road to give him plenty of room. I didn't indicate but at the last minute I panicked and thought I better had.

Keith said later there was no need for me to do that as the road was clear.

I mostly obeyed the speed limit but three marks on my mock driving test report show I went over the speed on three occasions. This was in a 30mph zone when I picked up speeds of 32mph and 35mph.

Keith reminded me that this could mean the difference between life and death if I hit a child in the road.

I also sometimes forgot to feed the steering wheel through my hands and instead crossed my hands over. At times I changed gears and steered round corners at the same time.

The test was nearing an end. I was anxious to know if I would have passed.

Keith said: "Overall I think you've got a good approach to driving. You're quite positive and not a hesitant driver but you would not have passed on this occasion."

I'd made 22 mistakes. Thankfully none of them were dangerous.

I didn't know what to say. My colleagues would have a good laugh but there was a serious element to it all. I'd failed my mock driving test. And if I'd failed, how many others would if they were to sit their driving test again?

The mock test made me think twice about the bad habits I've picked up in my 13 years of driving.