Birmingham Trading Standards Calls for Closer Tyre Repair Controls

Moreover, a “mystery shopper” survey of tyre repair outlets in the city uncovered that of 13 part-worn tyres bought, 11 were not properly labelled and two were not fit for the road. Trading Standards officers also took 12 punctured tyres to be fixed, only to find that four were illegally repaired. According to Trading Standards, major fast-fit chains with their own staff training and supervision performed well, a result that contrasted with some smaller traders that returned unsafe tyres to customers, placing the lives of road users at risk. Acting head of Trading Standards, Chris Neville, commented, “anyone can set up a tyre repair business with no training, which has implications for safety.”

He added that of the 60 workshop staff invited to participate in the two-day free course, only 28 attended. All attending the course passed the mystery inspections conducted by officers. Neil Eustace, chairman of Birmingham City Council’s public protection committee, said that tyre repair workshops should be monitored and licensed in the same way that MoT test centres are. “They should be licensed,” he said. “If they are not doing their job, then they are putting lives at risk.”