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. Leamington Spa is about 75 miles in a straight line from our only base at Brent Cross, NW2 (further by road). We have no base or van stationed nearby. Call and we will tell you straight away whether we can take the job; if we can, the arrival time is given on the call. If the car is unsafe where it is, your breakdown cover may reach you sooner. CV31, CV32, CV33: Milverton, Lillington, Cubbington, Sydenham
Puncture, blowout or worn tyres? We come to the car.
A job this far from our base is a long trip for one of our vans, so whether we can take it depends on the diary that day. We would rather tell you no on the first call than keep you waiting, so you can ring someone closer straight away.
Being honest about 75 miles
A job here means a long drive from north London, so we cannot take every call. A planned job, such as a pair of new tyres booked for a day that suits you, is easier to fit in than an urgent one, so tell us when you need the car by.
You are told the price on the call before the fitter sets off.
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.
Tyre taken off the rim and inspected inside
Repair considered only for small holes in the central tread area
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.
Damaged tyre removed and the rim checked for bends or cracks
Replacement matched to the size, load index and speed rating
New tyre balanced on the wheel before it goes back on
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.
Wheel removed and spun on a balancer
Weights fitted to the rim to even out the balance
Wheel back on with the nuts torqued to the maker's figure
We fit tyres only. We do not sell part-worn tyres and we do not do batteries, brakes or wheel alignment.
Worth knowing
Tyre know-how before you call
New tyres
New tyres fitted where the car is parked
Reading the size on your sidewall
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.
Budget, mid-range or premium
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.
Puncture repair
How a puncture is judged and repaired
What BS AU 159 allows
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.
Nails and screws in the tread
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.
Where we can work
Where in the town the work can be done
The fitter needs a safe, level spot beside the car with room to jack it up: a driveway, a quiet side street, a parking bay or a car park where the owner allows it. If the car is in a controlled parking zone permit bay, tell us so the fitter can park legally beside it.
Car parks at places such as Leamington Shopping Park, the Shires retail park, Royal Priors or the station are privately run, so tyre work there needs the owner's or operator's permission. Ask security or the site office first, and tell us about any height barrier. The same goes for the private roads on Sydenham Industrial Estate and the business park at Tachbrook Park: check with the site or your employer that work is allowed.
Warwick Hospital, just beyond Milverton on the Warwick side, runs its own car parks, so the same permission rule applies there.
Where we can work
The Parade, Binswood Street and the roads out of town
Around the Parade, Jephson Gardens and Royal Priors, several of the Regency streets are one-way, so give us the street and the nearest junction rather than the shop or the park. On the Milverton side the A452 runs along Binswood Street and Clarendon Square, and towards Cubbington the A445 and the B4453 Rugby Road head north out of town.
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. The M40 passes the town at junctions 13 and 14. 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. Once the car is safely off the road, call us.
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Pricing
How the price is worked out
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.
What goes into the price
The tyre itself: size, load index, speed rating and whether it is a run-flat
The tier you choose: budget, mid-range or premium
The work: a repair, one new tyre or several, and any locking nut removal
The location of the car
Tyres and the law
Tread depth, tyre age and the law
The legal tread limit
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.
The 20p test
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.
Other defects that make a tyre illegal
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.
How old is your tyre?
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.
Staying safe
Staying safe until the job is done
While you wait for the fitter
Stop somewhere off the main flow of traffic, switch on the hazard lights and, if you have one, put on a high-visibility vest.
Get everyone out on the side away from the traffic and wait behind a barrier, on a pavement or well back from the road.
If the tyre may still be repairable, say so before using a sealant can, and leave any nail or screw where it is.
Keep your phone on and charged, and tell us about anything that makes the spot hard to find.
Tyre failure on a motorway
If the car can still be driven safely, carry on to the next exit or services and stop away from traffic before you call.
If you cannot leave, use an emergency area or the hard shoulder, stop well to the left and, if it is safe to, get out on the side away from the traffic.
Wait behind the barrier, not in the car. Rule 277 of the Highway Code says not to attempt any repairs on your vehicle on a motorway.
Call 999 if you are in danger or stuck in a live lane. Otherwise National Highways can be reached on 0300 123 5000.
Leamington Spa FAQs
Questions drivers ask
Can you fit a tyre at Leamington Shopping Park?
Only if the shopping park's management agrees, so ask security or the site office first. Then tell us which part of the car park the car is in and whether there is a height barrier on the way in.
Is Whitnash or Radford Semele any different from the town centre?
No. Both are a similar trip from Brent Cross, so the same check applies: give us the address on the call and we say whether the job is possible and, if it is, the arrival time.
Can the fitter work in a hospital, station or retail park car park?
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:
Leamington Spa station
Royal Priors shopping centre
Warwick Hospital (in Warwick, just beyond Milverton)
Which main roads near here can the fitter not work on?
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:
M40 J13 and J14
A452
A425
A445
Can I bring the car to you instead?
No. Our base at Brent Cross holds tyres only and is not a walk-in garage. Every fitting and repair is done at the car.
Can you fit tyres at my workplace?
Yes, if the car is parked legally on the street, or in a car park where the owner or site manager allows the work. Tell us where the car is. If the car has locking wheel nuts, have the key ready.
How do I find my tyre size?
Look on the side of the tyre for a code like 205/55 R16 91V. The handbook has it too, and many cars show it on a sticker inside the driver's door or the fuel flap.
Should I buy budget or premium tyres?
It depends on the car and how it is used. The tyre label's wet grip grade is a fair way to compare tyres in the same size.
My tyre keeps losing air slowly. Is it a puncture?
It may be, or it may be the valve or the seal between the tyre and the rim; the tyre has to come off to tell which.
Is a bulge in the sidewall dangerous?
Yes. A bulge means the internal cords have broken and the tyre can fail without warning. Do not drive on it further than you need to reach a safe place.
Around Leamington Spa
Neighbourhoods we take calls from
Calls are welcome from anywhere in and around the town: Milverton and Old Town near the centre, Lillington and Cubbington to the north, Sydenham to the east, Whitnash and Radford Semele to the south and south-east, and Warwick Gates on the border with Warwick, across the CV31, CV32 and CV33 postcodes.
Area map
See the area on a map.
Rescue Tyres is a mobile service run from one base at Brent Cross, London NW2. The map shows the Leamington Spa area so you can check where your car is: it is not an address of ours.
The 20p test is the quickest free way to check if your tyres are road-legal. Here's how to do it in 30 seconds, why it works, and what to do if they fail.
Mobile or garage tyre fitting? How the two compare on time, safety and emergencies, what a fair quote should include, and when a garage is the better choice.
Call to check we can take the job
Need a tyre fitter in Leamington Spa? Call now.
Tell us where the car is, the tyre size and what has happened, and the options are explained on the call.