<P> Competency tests were introduced by the Motor Vehicles Regulations 1935 applicable to all drivers who started driving after 1 April 1934 . Competency tests were suspended in 1939 for seven years due to the Second World War and in 1956 for one year due to the Suez Crisis . The only person in the United Kingdom who is not required to have a driving licence in order to drive is The Queen . She also does not require number plates on any vehicles which are personally owned by herself or her closest family members . </P> <P> Until 1973, driving licences (and tax discs) were issued by local authorities and had to be renewed every three years . In 1971, the decision was taken to computerise the licensing system to enable it to be linked to the Police National Computer and to extend the life of the licence up to the driver's 70th birthday, extendable at intervals thereafter provided the driver can prove fitness . </P> <P> Except for Northern Ireland, driving licences issued before July 1998 did not have photographs on them . Anyone who holds a licence issued before this date may retain their photo-less licence until expiry (normally one's seventieth birthday) or until they change address, whichever comes sooner . The new plastic photocard driving licences have to be renewed every ten years, for a fee . Until 2015, the licence consisted of both the photocard and a paper counterpart which detailed the individual's driving entitlements and convictions ("endorsements"). The counterpart was abolished on 8 June 2015 and the information formerly recorded on it is now available online via the View Driving Licence service, except in Northern Ireland where the counterpart must be kept with the photocard . </P> <P> Licences issued to residents of England, Northern Ireland and Scotland appear only in English, while those issued to residents of Wales appear in both English and Welsh . </P>

When did photo driving licences start in uk