A tyre found flat after the Paddington train at Didcot Parkway or outside a house in Northbourne should stay put; in Didcot a fitter travels to the car and weighs up repair against replacement right there.
Didcot flats turn up in all the everyday places: the Foxhall Road car park after work, the Orchard Centre car park, with the site's permission, after shopping, near the Cornerstone arts centre at the end of a show, or on a Blewbury drive on a Sunday morning. Driving a flat tyre to a garage, even a short way down Broadway, crushes the sidewall and can damage the rim, which ends any chance of a simple repair.
Leave the car and call with its location and size, plus a note of whether the tyre is fully flat. Jacking the car up and taking the wheel off, the fitter inspects the tyre inside for crushing and outside for the cause. If the hole is in the tread and the tyre stayed parked, BS AU 159 allows a repair; otherwise a replacement is fitted. Whatever it costs is settled by phone ahead of the drive to OX11.
On run-flat tyres? They behave differently once deflated, so check the handbook's limits and read our page on run-flat tyres; we fit replacement run-flat tyres at the car in Didcot as well.
Other services from the same Brent Cross team: broken tyre replacement in Didcot and 24 hour tyre service.
The Didcot Parkway surface car park, the lower levels of the multi-storey, Orchard Centre parking while a ticket is valid, and drives and kerbs across OX11. A flat on the A34 means recovery off the carriageway first.
| Main roads | A34; A4130; A417 |
|---|---|
| Typical arrival | Around 1.5 to 2 hours |
Flat tyre: the first steps →Flat tyre help on the Didcot page
Coming off the Hithercroft Roundabout onto Bosley Way (A4130) with a tyre going soft, pull into the Hithercroft Industrial Estate rather than stopping on the bypass. Find a spot clear of lorry access, put the hazards on and walk round the car to check every tyre. Then call with the unit you are parked near; a run-flat should be driven no further than its stated limit.
A flat at the Foxhall Road car park or on a Blewbury drive calls for a walk round first, not a drive. Several low tyres at once changes the diagnosis. On the flat one, study the tread for site debris such as a screw, the valve for damage and the sidewall for a kerb scrape. Driving it down Broadway to a garage crushes the casing. A space saver, where carried, is for short, slow use only. Leaving the car in its ticketed bay is the better call.
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Flat tyre in Didcot? Keep off it and call with the size.
