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. Lambeth is about 9 miles in a straight line from our only base at Brent Cross, NW2. We give you an arrival time when you call.
SW2, SW4, SW8, SW9, SW16, SE11: Brixton, Clapham, Streatham, Vauxhall
Several of the borough's main roads are TfL red routes, where stopping is not allowed. We cannot stop or work on a red route; the car needs to be on a side street or private ground first. Here that means:
If a tyre is flat, drive no further than you must to reach a safe place: driving on a flat tyre usually ruins it.
| Postcode districts | SW2, SW4, SW8, SW9, SW16, SE11, SE24, SE27, SE1, SE19 |
|---|---|
| Areas | Brixton, Clapham, Streatham, Vauxhall, Waterloo, Kennington, Stockwell, Herne Hill, West Norwood, Tulse Hill, Oval, Nine Elms, Gipsy Hill, Streatham Hill |
| Landmarks | The Oval, O2 Academy Brixton, Clapham Common, Streatham High Road |
| Local rules | Inside the London-wide Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) |
| Only the northern edge of Lambeth, around Waterloo, 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 9 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.
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.
The A24 along Clapham Common South Side and Balham Hill, and the A3036 Wandsworth Road and Lambeth Palace Road, are busy through roads too. Around Clapham Common and on the roads by the river, the side streets are usually the better place for the fitter to stop, so if the car can be driven a short way safely, move it off the main road and tell us the street name.
Near Waterloo, Vauxhall or the Oval, where the stations, the bus station and the cricket ground bring a lot of traffic, give us the exact street and the nearest junction rather than the landmark.
Only the northern edge of the borough, around Waterloo, 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.
We cover the whole borough: Waterloo, Kennington, Oval, Vauxhall and Nine Elms in the north; Stockwell, Clapham and Brixton through the middle; and Herne Hill, Tulse Hill, Streatham, Streatham Hill, West Norwood and Gipsy Hill in the south, from SE1 and SE11 down to SW16 and SE27.
The vans set out from Brent Cross in north-west London, so the north of the borough is a little nearer than Streatham or West Norwood. In practice the diary and where the vans already are matter more than the last few miles.
If the car is in a controlled parking zone permit bay, tell us so the fitter can park legally beside it. A pay-and-display bay works the same way: tell us what kind of bay it is.
Underground car parks below the newer blocks at Nine Elms and Vauxhall, estate car parks, supermarket car parks and hospital sites such as St Thomas' and King's College Hospital at Denmark Hill are private ground. Private car parks need the permission of whoever runs them before we can work there. For a basement, tell us the street the entrance is on, the level and bay, and any height limit, so we can check the van can get in. If it cannot, the car may need moving up to the street first, and we work that out with you on the call.
“I called out for a mobile repair. The service was quick and quite reasonably priced. Would 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!”
“Amazingly fast, polite and saved my day.”
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 Lambeth 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.
