The Enquirer has been contacted by frustrated workers and training bosses facing delays in renewing Construction Plant Competence Scheme (CPCS) cards.

The scheme covers hundreds of thousands of plant operators who face regular renewal tests.

CPCS was sold to awarding organisation NOCN Group by the Construction Industry Training Board last year.

NOCN transitioned over the renewal test booking system earlier this month but the move has caused chaos.

One operator said: “I’ve been trying to book a test for days but the online system has fallen over and the phone line just keeps you on hold forever.”

Another training provider said: “Our staff are being inundated with complaints about this.

“We can’t renew cards and people are going to be turned away from sites which is a disaster this time of the year.”

NOCN bosses apologised for the issues and said they were working flat out to get things resolved for the New Year.

Mark Buckton​, Executive Director for Job Cards & Services, said: “First off I’d like to apologise to everyone affected by this situation.

“I’d also appeal for sites to recognise any slightly out-of-date Blue and Red CPCS cards while we work our way through the backlog.

“The thought of people being turned away from sites is a huge worry for us and some sort of leniency over this would be a great help.

“We are working flat out to work through these problems and get the turnaround time for these tests back on target.”