A teenager has become the first driver in the UK to pass his practical test -- using a satnav device.

Grant Ferguson, 17, of Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire, threw away his L-plates following a nationwide shake-up intended to better reflect the modern way of driving.

It comes after his local driving test centre was chosen as one of 20 in the UK to trial the revised practical exam with the help of a navigation system.

As part of the new trial, the examiner sets up a route on the device for the first 20 minutes of the test.

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) expects 1,000 learner drivers will take part in the revised tests which will continue until the end of the year.

Mr Ferguson sat his exam at Bishopbriggs Driving Test Centre.

He said: "I had been learning to drive for about a month when the opportunity came up to try out the new test.

"I felt like I was part of an important change.

"Introducing the satnav into the test is about training to make sure that you're only listening for guidance and not staring at the screen too often.

"I'll definitely be buying a satnav because that's what I know and it gives you a bit of freedom to go where you want.

"I've wanted to drive for a very long time. I was a bit relieved that I didn't have to do the reverse around the corner in the test.

"The test is meant to imitate what you're going to be doing in real life such as reversing into a parking space at the shops."

If the trial is successful, it could be the biggest shake up of the test since the written theory exam was introduced in 1996.

The changes could see the three-point turn and reversing round a corner scrapped.

These will be replaced with more commonplace manoeuvres such as reversing out of a parking bay or pulling up on the left or right before rejoining the flow of traffic, the DVSA said.

Candidates will also be asked safety questions while on the move, instead of at the start, and asked to operate switches such as screen heaters, according to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).

Drew Nicol, 46, Mr Ferguson's teacher at the Popular School of Motoring in Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire, said: "My driving school was one of the first to register for the trial.

"I think it's a good idea and much more realistic.

"Drivers are using the satnav more and more now as a means of direction and the new test is designed to reflect this.

"The tester will be looking to see, for example, if the driver is looking too much at the satnav instead of listening to it."

Motoring groups have urged caution in removing manoeuvres like a three-point turn, saying it can be essential if satnavs lead drivers down a dead end road.

When the changes were announced AA president Edmund King said: "Not everyone owns or needs a sat nav and it is not a legal requirement so shouldn't be a compulsory part of the test. Some still navigate with signs and maps.

"In our view a three-point turn is still an important manoeuvre for getting out of cul de sacs, dead ends and often car parks.

"Eventually, self-parking cars will do away with parallel parking and, who knows, the driverless car might just do away with the test."

Stephen Glaister, the director of the RAC Foundation, added: "We all rely on our sat navs but they are not infallible and it is when they have led us down a dead end that we need to know how to do a three-point turn.

"It's fine to add some aspects to the test but we should be cautious about removing the basics."

More than half of the 1.5 million practical tests taken in the UK last year were failed.