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. Digbeth is about 94 miles in a straight line from our only base at Brent Cross, NW2 (further by road). We have no base or van stationed nearby. 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. If the car is unsafe where it is, your breakdown cover may reach you sooner.
B5, B9, B12: Deritend, Digbeth High Street, Eastside, Smithfield
A job this far from our base is a long trip for one of our vans, so whether we can take it depends on the diary that day. We would rather tell you no on the first call than keep you waiting, so you can ring someone closer straight away.
A job here means a drive of well over ninety miles, so the answer depends on the diary that day, and some days it will be no. Planned work, such as tyres that are worn but still legal or a set for a car that is parked at work all week, is far easier to fit in than an urgent job.
Tell us how long the car can stay where it is. A car that is safe and legally parked for a day or two gives us far more room to fit the trip in than one that has to be moved soon.
| Postcode districts | B5, B9, B12 |
|---|---|
| Areas | Deritend, Digbeth High Street, Eastside, Smithfield, Bordesley, Highgate (north edge), Custard Factory quarter, Cheapside |
| Landmarks | Custard Factory, Selfridges and the Bullring, Millennium Point, Typhoo Wharf |
| Local rules | Clean Air Zone inside the A4540 Middleway ring road |
| Distance from our base | About 94 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.
Tyres fall roughly into three tiers. Premium brands usually stop shorter in the wet and often last longer; budget tyres cost less up front but vary more in quality.
The label on most new car tyres grades wet grip, fuel efficiency and outside noise, which is a fairer guide than the brand name alone. For a car doing high mileage or plenty of motorway driving, look at the wet grip grade first.
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.
The sealant kit supplied with many new cars is a temporary measure to get you moving. The kit sets its own low speed and distance limits, printed on the bottle or in the handbook.
If you have used sealant, say so on the call. The inside of the tyre has to be cleaned before it can be inspected, and some sealants leave it unfit for a repair.
Roads such as the A41 through Digbeth High Street and Deritend, Bordesley Circus, the A38 Queensway and the A4540 Watery Lane Middleway carry heavy traffic. If the car stops on a busy main road and can be moved slowly and safely, take it into a side street before you call. Nobody can work on a wheel in a live lane or a bus lane, and the fitter also needs a legal place to stop beside the car.
Birmingham's Clean Air Zone covers the roads inside the A4540 Middleway ring road and has charged since 1 June 2021. It is a charge for driving a vehicle that does not meet the standards, not for a parked car. The GOV.UK clean air zone checker will tell you whether your own vehicle is affected.
We cover the High Street and Deritend, Eastside, Smithfield, Bordesley, Cheapside, the streets around the Custard Factory and Typhoo Wharf, and the north edge of Highgate. The distance from Brent Cross and the way we work are the same across all of them.
Give us the street name and the nearest landmark, such as the Custard Factory or the coach station, as well as the postcode, and say whether the car is in a yard, in a marked bay or at the kerb.
If the car is in a car park run by an operator, a landlord or an employer, we need their permission before a car is jacked up on their ground, so ask first and tell us who agreed. That covers the warehouse yards, the car parks near Moor Street station and the campus car parks around Millennium Point and Birmingham City University.
In a multi-storey, the van may not clear the height barrier and the fitter needs space beside the wheel. If the car is on a covered deck, it may need to come down to an open level or out to the street before the work can be done. Check the car park's opening times too: if it is locked when the fitter arrives, the job cannot go ahead.
“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!”
“Had two tyres replaced and was really impressed. Friendly and efficient, job completed quickly. Highly recommend!”
“Good and reliable service in all conditions.”
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 Digbeth 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.
