What to do when a tyre goes flat

Make the scene safe

Hazard lights on. If you are on a motorway or a fast dual carriageway, do not kneel beside the car in a live lane. Leave the vehicle if you can do that safely, stand behind the barrier, and call for help. A mobile tyre repair is for a driveway, a car park, a services, or a quiet street where a jack can stand flat.

On an urban road, move to a legal stopping place if the tyre will hold that short roll. If it is already off the rim, or you can hear it tearing, stop where you are only if staying is safer than moving.

Look at the tyre before you call

You are looking for one of three things: a nail or screw in the tread, a cut in the sidewall, or a tyre that has come off the bead. A nail in the centre of the tread can often be repaired. A bubble, a cord showing, or a slash in the sidewall means replacement. UK law also requires at least 1.6 mm of tread across the central three-quarters of the breadth, around the whole tyre. A bald tyre is not repaired back into legal use.

• Tread depth rule: Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, regulation 27.
• Highway Code vehicle maintenance rules cover tyre condition, pressure, and cuts.

What to say when you call

Postcode, registration, and whether you have the locking wheel nut key. Read the sidewall code if you can do it from the pavement, for example 205/55R16 91V. Say if anyone is in a vulnerable place, such as a hard shoulder. Call 020 8088 9732. We confirm the price before work starts.