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. Stevenage is about 23 miles in a straight line from our only base at Brent Cross, NW2. We give you an arrival time when you call.
SG1, SG2: Old Town, Bedwell, Broadwater, Chells
Every car park belongs to someone, whether that is Lister Hospital, the railway station, the Westgate shopping centre, the Leisure Park, the Roaring Meg or Monkswood retail parks, or an employer in the Gunnels Wood Road industrial area. Private car parks need the permission of whoever runs them before we can work there, so check first if you can, or tell us who runs it.
If the car is in a multi-storey, a height barrier may stop the van getting in. Tell us the level and the bay, and whether the car can be moved to an open-air space or onto the street.
At home, the fitter needs safe, level room beside the damaged wheel. If the car is inside a garage or in a tight spot in a garage court, it may need to come out first.
| Postcode districts | SG1, SG2 |
|---|---|
| Areas | Old Town, Bedwell, Broadwater, Chells, Pin Green, Shephall, Symonds Green, St Nicholas, Poplars, Great Ashby, Fairlands, Bragbury End |
| Landmarks | Stevenage Leisure Park, Fairlands Valley Park, Gunnels Wood Road industrial area, Old Town High Street |
| Distance from our base | About 23 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.
If you can see a nail or screw in the tread, leave it where it is. It is often partly sealing the hole, and pulling it out can turn a slow leak into a flat.
Take a photo of where it sits and send it on WhatsApp. Its position across the tread says a lot about whether a repair is likely.
The town is served by junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), and its main roads include the A602 along Broadhall Way and Monkswood Way, the A1155 and Gunnels Wood Road.
We never work on the carriageway of a motorway or main road, on a hard shoulder, in a smart motorway emergency area or on a slip road. Once the car is safely off the road, call us. A side road or a car park whose owner allows it is where the fitter can meet you. If the car is unsafe where it is, your breakdown cover may reach you sooner.
“A pleasure having them come down and save me. Big shout out to Hiwad, really responsive, recommend him to anybody.”
“Arrived and was very kind and polite. Reassured me about changing the tyres and was quick and attentive straight away.”
“Quick, helpful and very understanding of our situation.”
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:
We cover every part of the town, including Old Town, Bedwell, Broadwater, Chells, Pin Green, Poplars, Symonds Green, St Nicholas, Fairlands and Great Ashby, as well as Shephall and the hamlet of Bragbury End just outside it. The postcode districts are SG1 and SG2.
We also go to Knebworth, a village about 3 miles to the south with its own railway station, and to Buntingford, a separate small town in East Hertfordshire about 8 miles to the east.
If the car is parked near Fairlands Valley Park, the Old Town High Street or the stadium on Broadhall Way, tell us the road it is on rather than the landmark, so the fitter stops in the right place.
Rescue Tyres is a mobile service run from one base at Brent Cross, London NW2. The map shows the Stevenage 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.
