From Marble Arch to Cannock the A5 has no hard shoulder: in London a red route through Kilburn and Cricklewood, beyond Dunstable the Watling Street trunk road with lay-bys and roundabouts. A tyre losing air belongs in a side street or the next town, not the running lane. Immobile? 999, then TfL or National Highways, then call us.
The A5 starts as Edgware Road at Marble Arch and runs through Kilburn High Road and Cricklewood Broadway, our home stretch, to Staples Corner, then through West Hendon and Burnt Oak to Edgware, all TfL red route. It picks up again at M1 junction 9 and follows Watling Street through Dunstable, past Milton Keynes, to Towcester, Weedon and Kilsby, then Hinckley, Tamworth and Cannock. Potholes and rim damage are the A5's signature, from the Kilburn bus stops to the Weedon crossroads.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marble Arch | Oxford Street, Park Lane, Bayswater Road | Marble Arch or Park Lane car parks, or a Marylebone side street | Usually under an hour |
| Marylebone flyover | A40 Westway, Marylebone Road, Paddington | Paddington side streets north of the flyover | Usually under an hour |
| Kilburn High Road | Kilburn, Maida Vale, Kilburn High Road and Kilburn Park stations | Residential streets either side of the High Road in Kilburn | Usually under an hour |
| Cricklewood Broadway | Cricklewood station, Cricklewood Lane, Brent Cross West | Cricklewood side streets or the retail units off the Broadway; our unit is beside Staples Corner | Usually under an hour |
| Staples Corner | M1 J1, A406 North Circular, Brent Cross | Staples Corner retail park or Brent Cross Shopping Centre | Usually under an hour |
| West Hendon and Burnt Oak | Hendon Broadway, Burnt Oak station, Colindale | Burnt Oak side streets or the Colindale retail parks | Usually under an hour |
| Edgware | Edgware station, Station Road, A5109 Apex Corner | Edgware's Broadwalk shopping centre car park | Usually under an hour |
| M1 J9 (Flamstead) | M1, Markyate, Redbourn, A5 Dunstable | Markyate village or a side street in Redbourn | Typically 60 to 90 minutes |
| Dunstable (A505 crossroads) | Dunstable town centre, A505 Luton, Houghton Regis | Dunstable's Quadrant or Ashton Square car parks | Around 1.5 to 2 hours |
| Hockliffe | A4012 Leighton Buzzard, Woburn | Hockliffe village or the Leighton Buzzard road | Around 1.5 to 2 hours |
| Kelly's Kitchen roundabout, Fenny Stratford | A4146 Bletchley, A421 Milton Keynes, Fenny Stratford | Bletchley town centre or the retail parks off the A4146 | Around 1.5 to 2 hours |
| Milton Keynes (Standing Way to Portway) | A421 Standing Way, Childs Way, Portway, Central Milton Keynes, Milton Keynes Central station | Central Milton Keynes car parks via Portway | Around 1.5 to 2 hours |
| Old Stratford | A422 Buckingham and Milton Keynes, Stony Stratford | Stony Stratford high street | Around 1.5 to 2 hours |
| Towcester (Tove roundabout) | A43 Northampton and M40, Towcester town centre | Towcester car parks off Watling Street | Around 2 hours, confirmed before we set off |
| Weedon | A45 Northampton and Daventry, Weedon Bec | Weedon Bec village side streets | Around 2 hours, confirmed before we set off |
| Kilsby | A361 Daventry, M1 J18, DIRFT, Rugby | Kilsby village or the Rugby side of the roundabout | A long run from London: allow 2 to 3 hours |
| Hinckley (M69 J1) | M69, Hinckley, A47 Nuneaton | Hinckley town centre car parks | A long run from London: allow 2 to 3 hours |
| Atherstone | Atherstone, Mancetter, Grendon | Atherstone town car parks | A long run from London: allow 2 to 3 hours |
| M42 J10 (Dordon) | M42, Tamworth, Dordon, Polesworth | Dordon village or the services at the junction | A long run from London: allow 2 to 3 hours |
| Tamworth | Tamworth town, A51 Lichfield, Ventura retail park | Ventura retail park beside the A5 at Tamworth | A long run from London: allow 2 to 3 hours |
| Cannock (Churchbridge) | A34 Walsall and Cannock, M6 Toll T7, Cannock town | Cannock town centre car parks or the Orbital retail park | A long run from London: allow 2 to 3 hours |
There are no motorway-style services on this road. Use the junction table for the nearest safe stop.
Cricklewood Broadway is our home stretch of the A5, and Watling Street north of the M1 is within reach: a Kilburn side street to Ventura at Tamworth.
The A5 is a pothole road. On Edgware Road the bus-stop kerbs and patched tarmac through Kilburn and Cricklewood bite chunks from tyres; on Watling Street between Dunstable and Kilsby a pothole hit at speed pinches the sidewall, which is never repairable. A screw picked up on the Milton Keynes section usually is: central tread, 6 mm or less, patched from inside.
How a mobile puncture repair is done →A blow-out on the Milton Keynes grade-separated section or the open Weedon to Kilsby length is a motorway problem with no run-off. Hold the wheel, ease off and, if it holds steady, use the next exit: Portway in MK, the Tove roundabout at Towcester. In London a burst blocks a red-route lane; if it steers, creep into a Kilburn side street.
What to do after a burst tyre →In Kilburn, Cricklewood and Burnt Oak a car that has had several owners can turn up without the locking wheel nut key, left with one of them. Up the A5, Milton Keynes and Tamworth commuters discover a missing key when a pothole flattens a tyre. Park in a side street or at Ventura and call.
How locking wheel nuts are removed →The A5 through Kilburn and Cricklewood is busy all night, and our unit sits beside it at Staples Corner, so the London stretch is where the 24-hour service is nearest. Northwards, Watling Street is dark between the towns, and Dunstable, Milton Keynes, Towcester and Tamworth each have car parks by the road that beat a lay-by at 2 am.
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.
A pothole outside the shops on the Broadway thumps the nearside front and the tyre is flat by Staples Corner. Turn into the Staples Corner retail park, beside our unit. A pinched sidewall means a new tyre.
Between Standing Way and Portway the offside rear bursts at dual carriageway speed. Hold the wheel, let the speed drop and, if still in control, take Portway into a Central Milton Keynes car park.
A nail picked up near Atherstone becomes a flat by Tamworth, and the locking nut key left with the previous owner. Come off at Tamworth and park at Ventura retail park. We draw the nut off.
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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 A5 at Staples Corner, Dunstable, Milton Keynes or Ventura? A pin and the size are all we need.
