The South Circular is an ordinary south London street dressed up as an orbital: red route, single lanes in places, no hard shoulder and nowhere to stop between Woolwich and Kew. A tyre going soft means turning into a residential road or a supermarket car park in Catford, Dulwich, Clapham or Putney. If the car has stopped in a lane, dial 999, then phone us.
The A205 was never built as a bypass; it is a chain of existing streets: Well Hall Road at Eltham, Brownhill Road and the Catford gyratory, Stanstead Road through Forest Hill, Dulwich Common, Tulse Hill, Trinity Road at Wandsworth, Upper Richmond Road through Putney, then Kew Road to Kew Bridge. TfL classes it as a red route, and much of it is one lane each way past shop parades, so a side street is never far. Kerb damage from tight turns is the classic problem.
If you can still control the car safely, leave at the next junction or pull into a services. If not, use the hard shoulder or an emergency area rather than a running lane, but never as a place to wait for a fitter: nobody can change a wheel there.
Put your hazards on. If it is safe, get everyone out on the passenger side and behind the barrier; if not, stay in with seatbelts on. Call 999 if you are in a live lane or in danger. Otherwise call the road operator (details below) and get moved to a place of safety. On a smart motorway use an emergency area and the orange SOS phone, and do not rejoin until the signals are set.
Once you are somewhere a van can park beside you, call 07473 720871 with the road, the direction, the nearest junction or marker post and the tyre size. We confirm the price and a realistic time before we set off.
The usual arrival band from our Brent Cross base; we confirm a real time when you call.
| Junction | Serves | Nearest safe stop | Typical arrival |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woolwich (A206) | Woolwich town centre, Woolwich Ferry, A206 Plumstead Road | Woolwich town centre car parks or the Royal Arsenal side streets | Typically 60 to 90 minutes |
| Well Hall roundabout, Eltham | A2 Rochester Way, Eltham High Street, Eltham station | Eltham High Street car parks or a side street off Well Hall Road | Typically 60 to 90 minutes |
| Catford gyratory | A21 Bromley Road and Lewisham, Catford and Catford Bridge stations | The Catford shopping centre car park or a residential road off Brownhill Road | Typically 60 to 90 minutes |
| Forest Hill | Forest Hill station, London Road, Sydenham | Forest Hill side streets or the Sainsbury's car park by the station | Typically 60 to 90 minutes |
| Dulwich Common | Lordship Lane, Dulwich Village, Dulwich College | Dulwich Park car park or a Dulwich side street | Usually under an hour |
| Tulse Hill | A204 Tulse Hill, A215 Norwood Road, Tulse Hill station, West Norwood | Tulse Hill residential streets off Norwood Road | Usually under an hour |
| Clapham Common South Side | A24 Clapham South, Balham, Clapham Common | Streets off Clapham Common South Side or the Clapham South station side roads | Usually under an hour |
| Wandsworth (A3 and Trinity Road) | A3 Wandsworth High Street, Southside shopping centre, Wandsworth Town station | Southside shopping centre car park | Usually under an hour |
| Putney (Upper Richmond Road) | A219 Putney Hill and Putney Bridge, Putney station, East Putney | Putney Exchange car park or a side street off the Upper Richmond Road | Usually under an hour |
| East Sheen | Sheen Lane, Mortlake station, Richmond Park | East Sheen side streets or the Sheen Lane shops' parking | Usually under an hour |
| Kew and Kew Bridge | Kew Road, Kew Gardens, A315 Kew Bridge, Chiswick roundabout | Kew Retail Park or Kew Gardens' car park on Ferry Lane | Usually under an hour |
There are no motorway-style services on this road. Use the junction table for the nearest safe stop.
The A205 is a chain of shopping streets, so on the South Circular we work in the roads just off it: a Dulwich side street, Southside.
Kerbs are the South Circular's weapon. The tight turns at the Catford gyratory, the Wandsworth one-way system and the Kew Bridge approaches, plus the bus-stop build-outs along Upper Richmond Road, scrape and pinch tyres all day. Get into a side street or a supermarket car park in Forest Hill. A tread puncture within 6 mm is patched; a kerb-scuffed sidewall is not.
How a mobile puncture repair is done →Speeds on the A205 are low, so a tyre rarely fails here with drama, but a car on its rim in the single lane through Forest Hill or Tulse Hill stops everything behind it. If it still rolls, turn into the first residential road; if not, hazards on and 999, because a blocked South Circular lane needs TfL before a tyre fitter.
What to do after a burst tyre →A locking wheel nut with no key can be a discovery in the leafy streets off the South Circular, where cars sit on the road for weeks and the key ends up in a kitchen drawer. Do not try the spare on the red route. Park in a Dulwich side road or the Southside or Putney Exchange car parks.
How locking wheel nuts are removed →Overnight the South Circular is quiet but the red route still bites, and a car left on it after a puncture can be towed or ticketed before morning. If a tyre goes late, drive gently into the nearest residential street or a car park such as Southside at Wandsworth, and ring. From Brent Cross the journey crosses the river.
How our 24 hour tyre service works →Motorway advice follows the Highway Code (motorway rules 253 to 273 and breakdown rules 274 to 287) and National Highways breakdown guidance; repairs follow BS AU 159, the British Standard for tyre repairs.
Cutting the tight turn at the gyratory drags the nearside front along the kerb and by Brownhill Road the tyre is going down. Turn into the Catford shopping centre car park. A kerb-scuffed sidewall means a replacement.
The car sags onto its rim in the Trinity Road queue and the traffic behind backs up. If it still rolls, follow the one-way system into the Southside car park. If not, hazards on and 999.
A screw from a skip lorry on Stanstead Road works into the rear tyre and the light comes on through Forest Hill. Pull into the Sainsbury's car park by the station. A central hole is patched.
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Written and checked by Hiwad Yarkhil, founder of Rescue Tyres LTD, Unit 9 Adrian Avenue, Brent Cross, London NW2 1LX. Updated 2026-10-08.
Off the South Circular at Catford, Southside, Putney Exchange or Kew Retail Park? Send the size and street.
