Rescue Tyres fits, repairs and replaces car and van tyres at the car: on a driveway, a side street or a car park where the owner allows it. Greenwich is about 13 miles in a straight line from our only base at Brent Cross, NW2, across the river. We give you an arrival time when you call.
SE3, SE7, SE9, SE10, SE18, SE28: Woolwich, Eltham, Greenwich town, Charlton
We have more than one van, which helps if one is already out this way. The distance from Brent Cross is much the same across the borough, so the arrival time you are given depends on the diary, not on which side of it you are.
We cannot stop or work on a red route; the car needs to be on a side street or private ground first. Two run through the borough: the A2, along Shooters Hill Road and the Rochester Way Relief Road, and the A205 South Circular. If the car stops on a busy main road and can be moved slowly and safely, take it into a side street before you call. If the car is unsafe where it is, your breakdown cover may reach you sooner.
| Postcode districts | SE3, SE7, SE9, SE10, SE18, SE28, SE2 |
|---|---|
| Areas | Woolwich, Eltham, Greenwich town, Charlton, Blackheath, Plumstead, Kidbrooke, Thamesmead, Abbey Wood, Greenwich Peninsula, Shooters Hill, Westcombe Park, New Eltham, Mottingham, Coldharbour |
| Landmarks | The O2, Greenwich Park and the Royal Observatory, Eltham Palace, IKEA Greenwich, The Valley, home of Charlton Athletic |
| Local rules | Inside the London-wide Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) |
| Red routes: we cannot stop or work on them | |
| Controlled parking zones (permit or pay-and-display bays) on many streets | |
| Distance from our base | About 13 miles in a straight line from Brent Cross, NW2 |
The fitter brings the tools to the car, so there is no need to drive on a damaged tyre to a garage.
The fitter brings the new tyre to your home, your workplace or a safe place to park, fits it, balances the wheel and sets the pressure.
Tell us the size from the sidewall and we can talk through budget, mid-range and premium options for it.
A nail or screw in the main tread can often be repaired. The fitter takes the tyre off the rim and looks at the inside before deciding, because a small hole can hide bigger damage.
Damage in the shoulder or the sidewall, or a tyre that has been driven flat, cannot be repaired safely, and you are told why before anything else is done.
A flat tyre does not always mean a new tyre. Whether it can be repaired depends on where the damage is and how far the car was driven flat.
If the spare is missing, flat or a space saver you would rather not rely on, the repair or the new tyre is brought to the car.
A burst tyre, a bulge in the sidewall or a deep cut from a kerb or pothole cannot be repaired. The fitter replaces the tyre at the car and checks the wheel while the tyre is off.
Send a photo of the damage and the size on the sidewall so the right replacement can be found.
We work evenings, nights, weekends and bank holidays when the diary allows, at the same price as a weekday job.
Out of normal working hours, where the car waits matters more: somewhere lit, legally parked and away from passing traffic.
Lost, broken or rounded key? The nuts are removed at the car with extraction sockets made for locking nuts.
Plain nuts or a new locking set go back on, and the tyre can be sorted on the same visit.
A vibration through the steering wheel at a steady speed is often a wheel out of balance. Balancing spins the wheel and adds small weights to even it out.
A wheel is balanced each time a new tyre is fitted to it, and it can be done on its own when a weight has come off.
Van tyres carry heavier loads and are marked with a C after the rim size and a higher load index. The replacement has to match both.
Fitting at a yard, a business car park or the kerb outside the job keeps the van working.
Run-flats keep the car moving for a limited distance after losing pressure, but they still need sorting properly afterwards.
The correct run-flat is sourced for your car, including maker-approved fitments, and fitted at the car.
We fit tyres only. We do not sell part-worn tyres and we do not do batteries, brakes or wheel alignment.
Call or WhatsApp with where the car is, the registration and the tyre size from the sidewall.
You hear what the job involves and the options for your car. Nothing is booked until you say yes.
The fitter comes to your home, your workplace or a safe place to park, raises the car on a jack and does the job beside it.
Before the fitter leaves, the wheel is checked for security and the tyre pressure is set to the maker's figure.
The size is the string of figures on the tyre wall, such as 205/55 R16 91V. The first number is the width in millimetres, the second is the sidewall height as a percentage of that width, R means radial construction and the last number is the rim diameter in inches.
The part after the size, 91V in that example, is the load index and speed rating. A replacement should match or exceed both, and the two tyres on one axle should be the same size and pattern.
Tyres fall roughly into three tiers. Premium brands usually stop shorter in the wet and often last longer; budget tyres cost less up front but vary more in quality.
The label on most new car tyres grades wet grip, fuel efficiency and outside noise, which is a fairer guide than the brand name alone. For a car doing high mileage or plenty of motorway driving, look at the wet grip grade first.
BS AU 159 is the British Standard for repairing car and van tyres. For car tyres it allows a repair only in the central part of the tread, known as the minor repair area, and only for damage up to 6 mm across. How wide that area is depends on the tyre.
Anything in the outer shoulder or the sidewall is outside the repair zone, because those parts flex too much for a patch to hold. Two repairs too close together, or an earlier poor repair, also rule a repair out.
If you can see a nail or screw in the tread, leave it where it is. It is often partly sealing the hole, and pulling it out can turn a slow leak into a flat.
Take a photo of where it sits and send it on WhatsApp. Its position across the tread says a lot about whether a repair is likely.
The A102 Blackwall Tunnel approach is a busy dual carriageway with no room to work beside a car. If a tyre fails there, do not wait on it for us. We never work on the carriageway of a motorway or main road, on a hard shoulder, in a smart motorway emergency area or on a slip road. Follow the Highway Code, leave at the next exit if you can do so safely, and call us once the car is off the main road.
The A206 runs through the borough as Woolwich Road and Trafalgar Road, and the A20 Sidcup Road crosses the south of the borough near New Eltham. A side street off either is a better place for the job than the main road itself.
“A pleasure having them come down and save me. Big shout out to Hiwad, really responsive, recommend him to anybody.”
“I urgently needed to replace my tyres and the team were prompt, friendly and efficient at a great price.”
“Faultless experience. Great communication, attitude and service.”
There is no fixed figure that suits every car, so the price is built from a few things and told to you before you decide.
The price is given on the call. The price is the same at any hour. Asking for a price does not commit you to anything.
When you compare prices, compare like with like: the same brand and pattern, the same load index and speed rating, and whether balancing and a new valve are part of the job.
Cars and light vans need at least 1.6 mm of tread across the central three-quarters of the tyre, around the whole circumference.
For a car, each illegal tyre can bring a fine of up to £2,500 and three penalty points; the maximum fine for a van is higher.
Push a 20p coin into the main grooves at several points around the tyre. If the outer band of the coin is visible, the tread may be close to the limit and should be measured properly.
A tyre is also illegal with a cut longer than 25 mm or a tenth of its section width, whichever is greater, that reaches the ply or cord, a lump or bulge, exposed cords, or the wrong size or type for the car.
The last four digits of the DOT code on the sidewall give the week and year of manufacture, so 2319 means the 23rd week of 2019.
Rubber hardens and cracks with age even on a tyre that has done few miles, and many tyre makers advise replacing any tyre ten years old or more.
Sources: the tread and tyre rules are in the Highway Code, annex 6 on GOV.UK; TyreSafe publishes tyre safety advice.
Yes, if the site allows it. Supermarket, retail park and station car parks are private ground, so the owner's permission comes first. Places of this kind in this area include:
If the car stops on one of the roads below and can still be driven safely, leave at the next exit or turn into a side street, then call:
We cover the whole borough. That runs from the Peninsula, Greenwich town and Westcombe Park in the west, through Charlton and Woolwich, to Plumstead and the borough's share of Thamesmead and Abbey Wood in the east. To the south it takes in Kidbrooke, Shooters Hill, Eltham, New Eltham, Coldharbour and part of Mottingham, and on the western edge the borough's part of Blackheath.
Rescue Tyres is a mobile service run from one base at Brent Cross, London NW2. The map shows the Greenwich area so you can check where your car is: it is not an address of ours.
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Tell us where the car is, the tyre size and what has happened, and the options are explained on the call.
