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. Leighton Buzzard is about 30 miles in a straight line from our only base at Brent Cross, NW2 (further by road). 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.
LU7: Town centre and High Street, Linslade, Old Linslade, Southcott
That makes it a longer trip for the van than our London work. If a van is already out this way, that can help.
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. Elsewhere in the town, a few things decide where the job can be done:
| Postcode districts | LU7 |
|---|---|
| Areas | Town centre and High Street, Linslade, Old Linslade, Southcott, Heath and Reach, Grovebury, Sandhills, Clipstone Park, Billington, Stanbridge, Wing |
| Landmarks | Leighton Buzzard High Street, Grand Union Canal, Leighton Buzzard Light Railway at Page's Park, Grovebury Road retail area, Parson's Close recreation ground |
| Distance from our base | About 30 miles in a straight line from Brent Cross, NW2 |
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 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.
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.
One new tyre is fine when the others still have plenty of tread and match it in size and pattern. A big difference in tread depth across one axle makes the car brake and corner unevenly.
Four-wheel-drive cars are more sensitive to differences in tread depth between tyres, so check the handbook before replacing just one.
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 A4146 runs north past the town towards Stoke Hammond and Milton Keynes, the A505 heads east towards Dunstable and the A5, and the A418 runs south west through Wing towards Aylesbury. These are fast roads with nowhere safe to work beside the traffic. If the car stops on one of them and can be moved slowly and safely, take it into a side street or a lay-by away from the traffic before you call.
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.
“A pleasure having them come down and save me. Big shout out to Hiwad, really responsive, recommend him to anybody.”
“Good communication, excellent work and takes the initiative. Happy to go the extra mile, highly recommended if you're in a tyre-related bit of bother!”
“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.
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 town centre and High Street, Grovebury, Sandhills, Clipstone Park and Southcott, all in the LU7 postcode district, and Linslade and Old Linslade across the River Ouzel and the Grand Union Canal. The villages of Heath and Reach, Billington, Stanbridge and Wing are covered as well.
On the newer streets at Sandhills and Clipstone Park, give us the full postcode and the name of the road you turned in from, in case the satnav is behind. If you are just outside these places, call and ask.
Rescue Tyres is a mobile service run from one base at Brent Cross, London NW2. The map shows the Leighton Buzzard area so you can check where your car is: it is not an address of ours.
The UK tyre tread depth law, explained
The legal minimum tyre tread depth in the UK is 1.6mm. Here's exactly what the law means, how it's measured and the fines for getting it wrong.
Correct tyre pressure for your car, and what under-inflated tyres do
Find your car's recommended tyre pressure on the door placard or in the handbook, and learn how to set it correctly for load and conditions on UK roads.
Illegal tyres: the fines and penalty points explained
Driving on illegal tyres can cost £2,500 and 3 penalty points per tyre. Here's what makes a tyre illegal in the UK and how to stay legal.
Tell us where the car is, the tyre size and what has happened, and the options are explained on the call.
