This is what it's like to do driving lessons under the UK's 'new normal'

Before lockdown was introduced, I had booked in a couple more driving lessons than usual in a bid to take my driving to the next level and start preparing for a theory test.

However, as Boris Johnson laid out the law in his message to the nation, it soon became clear that driving lessons weren't a priority anymore.

Having been overly cautious about the lockdown rules, I hadn't really left the house apart from the odd local walk and a supermarket trip - anything else felt like too much of a risk.

When my instructor sent out a text explaining the new rules, I felt scared that it was going to be too difficult to keep both the learner drivers and instructors safe.

The whole concept of a driving lesson is that it's in a small metal box, the seat and wheel is used by a number of different people throughout the day and naturally you are close to the instructor in the passenger seat.

And it seems the difficulty of social distancing proved to make lifting coronavirus laws tricky for the Government.

Driving school instructors received a small fee from the Government but not the same amount as furlough.

My instructor, Steve Walton-Foulds of Fouldsy's Driving School and from Bradford, said the one positive part of lockdown was that he could do home schooling and baking with his daughter.

With his wife being a key worker, luckily money was still coming in.

Speaking to me about the way the pandemic had affected his role, he told me: "I won't lie, its been hard with no cash flow, which literally stopped overnight, I did receive a small government donation which helped a little. 

"However it just worked out as our daughter is off school so I was at home and able to help when necessary with home schooling. 

"My wife, Sam, is classed as a key worker so has worked the whole way through this pandemic, firstly from home, but has now returned to the office and she has kept the money coming in. 

"In return I have done all the cooking, shopping and house cleaning. My daughter and I have also baked bread, biscuits and, of course, the good old banana bread."

So how is Steve keeping driving lessons coronavirus-proof?

As soon as Steve drives down my street he immediately cleanses as much of the car's interior as possible. 

He also takes the keys round to the car boot and cleanses them in a sanitiser-soaked cloth. 

Meanwhile every driving student must sanitise their hands, put on gloves and wear a mask. 

And once the lesson begins, if the student requires a demonstration, Steve must completely cleanse the car again. 

Explaining the safety measures, he told me: "Leaving more time between lessons giving myself time to sanitise the car fully before allowing the next pupil in; having a little chat with each pupil to see if they have any signs of Covid or been in contact with anybody else who has; Making sure pupils use hand sanitiser and wearing gloves, which will be supplied; I will also be supplying face mask to begin with."

It was strange how quickly the situation became my 'new normal' - I wouldn't think twice now about doing this for a driving lesson but if you had told me 12 months ago what life would be like, I'd probably laugh.