East Birmingham is a long way from our only base, Unit 9 Adrian Avenue, Brent Cross, NW2 1LX: Yardley is about 91 miles from it in a straight line, and further by road. Rescue Tyres fits and repairs tyres at the car, on a drive, a side street or a car park where the owner allows it.
B25, B26: South Yardley, Old Yardley village, Hay Mills, Yew Tree
We have no base or van stationed in east Birmingham. 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.
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 in the B25 or B26 postcodes means a long drive for the fitter, so we look at each call on its own. Two questions decide it: whether a fitter is free in the diary that day, and whether the right tyre for your car can be found for the trip. We answer both on the phone.
It helps to give us the postcode first, then the tyre size from the sidewall or the registration, so the diary and the tyre can be checked together while you are still on the line. If we cannot take the job, we say so plainly and you are free to call someone closer.
| Postcode districts | B25, B26 |
|---|---|
| Areas | South Yardley, Old Yardley village, Hay Mills, Yew Tree, Sheldon, Swan Island, Hob Moor Road, Church Road |
| Landmarks | Swan Island, Old Yardley village and St Edburgha's church, Yardley cemetery, Sheldon Country Park, Oaklands Park, Hay Mills |
| Local rules | Clean Air Zone inside the A4540 Middleway ring road |
| Distance from our base | About 91 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.
Driving on a tyre with little or no air crushes the sidewall between the rim and the road. The inner liner rubs on itself and breaks up, which often shows as grey dust or a groove inside the tyre.
Once that has happened the tyre cannot be repaired, even if the hole itself is small and well placed. Stopping as soon as the tyre feels soft gives the best chance of saving it.
The area covers South Yardley, the streets of the old village around St Edburgha's church, Hay Mills and Yew Tree, and on towards Sheldon and Gilbertstone.
Wherever the car is in this part of east Birmingham, the distance from our base is about the same, so each job is confirmed on the call in the same way. Tell us the neighbourhood as well as the postcode; it helps the fitter find the street.
Because the fitter will be driving a long way for the job, we ask a little more on the call than we would for a north London booking. Tell us whether the car has been driven on the flat tyre, whether more than one tyre is damaged, and whether the car is a van or a car with run-flat tyres.
These answers decide whether a repair is likely to be possible and which tyre has to come with the fitter, so the trip is not wasted for either of us.
The A45 Coventry Road and the A4040 Outer Circle both carry heavy traffic through the area, as does Hob Moor Road. A fitter cannot work safely at the side of any of them.
If a tyre goes on one of these roads and the car can be moved slowly and safely, turn into the first quieter residential street and stop where parking is allowed. Give us that street name and the postcode when you call, rather than the main road you were on.
“From start to finish, Hiwad was incredibly professional and helpful.”
“A pleasure having them come down and save me. Big shout out to Hiwad, really responsive, recommend him to anybody.”
“Had two tyres replaced and was really impressed. Friendly and efficient, job completed quickly. Highly recommend!”
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.
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 Yardley 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.
