A North Korean woman is celebrating after passing her written theory and vehicle maintenance exam for a driving licence – on her 950th attempt – and too received a telegram from the Guinness World Records Book congratulating her.

After sixty years of trying, the 97-year-old Cha Cha Choo finally managed to secure the 60 out of 100 points needed to scrape through the test.

The grandmother to fifteen told a reporter from Flop Gear magazine she’s spent more than 5 million won (around £200) on successive application fees to re-sit her test.

Now Mrs Cha Cha, who lives in Chitole, 10 miles north of Pyongyang, has only to pass the practical test to be legally out and about on North Korea’s potholed highways and byways – which she optimistically hopes to achieve before reaching her Centennial in 2012.

According to spokesman Mr Sum Dum Fuk from the Korean Driver’s Licence Agency, the two hour written test consists of ten multiple-choice questions on road regulations, car maintenance and how much the applicant loves ‘Dear Great Leader’ Kim Jingle Jong.

Mrs Cha Cha had been trying to pass her test since April 1st 1951, according to one report in the Kimchi Gazette – after she drove a Soviet-made ‘Puffinoff’ T54 battle tank into the Yalu River – thinking it would float – while fighting a rearguard military action against UN troops and attempting to escape into China.

Cha Cha -who runs the Happy Ending Rug and Tug Massage Lounge in Pyongyang – wanted a licence so that she could buy a car to make it easier visiting her Japanese business clients to provide ‘sensual massage’ services in their hotel rooms – and has her eyes set on the prestigious Mercedes-Benz look-alike : the Pyeonghwa Wheelbarrow Works latest creation in luxury driving north of the 38th Parallel – the Junma Ju-Ju (Cuckoo 1).

Her obstinate Nor-Kor’ upbringing – and ‘never-surrender’ determination to pass the test – has made Cha-Cha quite a celebrity at the Ping Pong vehicle licensing centre.

Test centre chief Mr Flip Flop Fong told reporters “She is really famous here. All the agency employees and examiners know her.”

“We’ve been running a gambling book on her since she failed the 775th time – and that’s quite a pot of money for one of us when she finally gets on the road.”

“Now Cha Cha wants to take her practical test so the examiners are drawing lots as to who will be the poor sod who has to sit in the car with her and risk life and limb as she drives along the demilitarised zone border for her hazard perception test and manages to avoid the land mines.”