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. Southwark is about 10 miles in a straight line from our only base at Brent Cross, NW2. We give you an arrival time when you call.
SE1, SE5, SE15, SE16, SE17, SE21: Bermondsey, Peckham, Camberwell, Dulwich
The Old Kent Road (A2), Borough High Street and Newington Causeway (A3), and the South Circular (A205) through Dulwich are red routes. We cannot stop or work on a red route; the car needs to be on a side street or private ground first. Drive slowly into the nearest side street only if it is safe to move the car. If the car is unsafe where it is, your breakdown cover may reach you sooner.
Only the northern edge of the borough, around Bankside and Borough, is inside the central London Congestion Charge zone. The area is inside the London-wide Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), in force since 29 August 2023: a charge for driving a vehicle that does not meet its emission standards, not for a parked car.
| Postcode districts | SE1, SE5, SE15, SE16, SE17, SE21, SE22 |
|---|---|
| Areas | Bermondsey, Peckham, Camberwell, Dulwich, Borough, Bankside, Elephant and Castle, Walworth, Rotherhithe, Surrey Quays, Nunhead, East Dulwich, Herne Hill, Sydenham Hill |
| Landmarks | Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, Elephant and Castle, Borough Market, The Den, Bermondsey |
| Local rules | Inside the London-wide Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) |
| Only the northern edge of Southwark, around Bankside and Borough, is inside the central London Congestion Charge zone. | |
| 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 10 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.
Tread close to the legal minimum is the obvious sign, but it is not the only one. Fine cracks that open up when you squeeze the sidewall, a bulge, exposed cords or uneven wear on one edge all mean the tyre should be looked at.
Tyre safety groups suggest thinking about new tyres at 3 mm of tread, because stopping distances in the wet grow noticeably below that depth.
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.
Nobody can promise a repair over the phone. The decision is made with the tyre off the rim, against the limits in the standard and the tyre maker's own guidance.
If the damage rules out a repair, you are told why before anything else is done. Common sizes are often on the van; other sizes are sourced for the job.
If the car is in a controlled parking zone permit bay, tell us so the fitter can park legally beside it. On a housing estate, say whether the car is in a residents' bay, behind a barrier or in an underground car park, and how the fitter gets in.
Hospital car parks such as those at Guy's Hospital and the Maudsley on Denmark Hill, the Surrey Quays shopping centre car park, retail parks and trading estates are all private ground. Private car parks need the permission of whoever runs them before we can work there, so check the signs or ask the site first, and tell us the level and bay the car is in.
We cover the whole borough: Bankside and Borough by the river; Elephant and Castle and Walworth; Bermondsey, Rotherhithe and Surrey Quays to the east; Camberwell, Peckham and Nunhead; and, further south, East Dulwich, Dulwich, the Southwark side of Herne Hill and Sydenham Hill. The postcode districts run from SE1 by the river to SE21 and SE22 in the south.
Away from the red routes, the A200 along Jamaica Road and Lower Road and the A202 through Camberwell New Road, Peckham Road and Queen's Road are the other busy roads. If the car is on one of them, a side street nearby is the easier place to work. A station name is a good reference if you do not know the postcode: London Bridge or Borough in the north, Elephant and Castle, Denmark Hill, Peckham Rye or East Dulwich further south.
“From start to finish, Hiwad was incredibly professional and helpful.”
“Excellent service from start to finish. He came out quickly to help my mum change her tyre and was extremely friendly.”
“Fast and reliable.”
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:
Rescue Tyres is a mobile service run from one base at Brent Cross, London NW2. The map shows the Southwark 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.
