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. Islington is about 6 miles in a straight line from our only base at Brent Cross, NW2. We give you an arrival time when you call.
N1, N4, N5, N7, N19, EC1R: Old Street, Clerkenwell, Angel, Finsbury Park
Holloway Road and Archway Road on the A1, and the A501 along Pentonville Road and City Road, are red routes, where stopping is banned outside marked bays. We cannot stop or work on a red route; the car needs to be on a side street or private ground first. If the car is unsafe where it is, your breakdown cover may reach you sooner.
Seven Sisters Road and Camden Road (A503), Upper Street, and Old Street and Clerkenwell Road (A5201) are busy through roads too, and the Old Street roundabout is no place to stop. A quiet side street off any of them is where the fitter can work.
| Postcode districts | N1, N4, N5, N7, N19, EC1R, EC1V, EC1M, EC1Y |
|---|---|
| Areas | Old Street, Clerkenwell, Angel, Finsbury Park, Holloway, Highbury, Archway, Canonbury, Barnsbury, Tufnell Park, Farringdon, Nag's Head |
| Landmarks | Whittington Hospital, Archway, Old Street roundabout, Nag's Head shopping area, Holloway |
| Local rules | Inside the London-wide Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) |
| Only the southern edge of Islington, around Clerkenwell, Bunhill and St Luke's, 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 6 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.
One new tyre is fine when the others still have plenty of tread and match it in size and pattern. A big difference in tread depth across one axle makes the car brake and corner unevenly.
Four-wheel-drive cars are more sensitive to differences in tread depth between tyres, so check the handbook before replacing just one.
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.
On Arsenal home match days and other events at the Emirates Stadium, extra parking controls and road closures apply on the streets around the ground. If the car is near the stadium on an event day, say so when you call, so we can work out where the fitter can stop and whether the job is better done once the roads reopen.
Only the southern tip of the borough, around Clerkenwell, 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. Check both before you drive off if your car is not compliant.
We come to every part of the borough: Archway, Tufnell Park, Upper Holloway and Holloway in the north, Finsbury Park and the Nag's Head shopping area, Highbury, Canonbury and Barnsbury in the middle, and Angel, Pentonville, Clerkenwell, Farringdon, St Luke's and Old Street in the south, across the N1, N4, N5, N7 and N19 and the EC1 postcodes.
If you are near a station, such as Highbury and Islington, Angel, Finsbury Park or Farringdon, give us the street name rather than the station, because station forecourts and taxi ranks are not places the fitter can stop.
If the car is in a controlled parking zone permit bay, tell us so the fitter can park legally beside it. A car in a pay-and-display bay can usually be worked on where it is, as long as the van can stop legally nearby.
On a housing estate road or in a block's own car park, ask the managing agent or caretaker first, because estate land is private ground and needs the owner's permission. The same applies to supermarket and other private car parks, and to the car parks at the Whittington Hospital in Archway.
The fitter needs a safe, level spot beside the car with room to jack it up: a driveway, a quiet side street, a parking bay or a car park where the owner allows it.
“Had two tyres replaced and was really impressed. Friendly and efficient, job completed quickly. Highly recommend!”
“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!”
“Faultless experience. Great communication, attitude and service.”
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 Islington 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.
