Baldwin declares war on illegal tyres

Micheldever wholesale director Alan Baldwin virtually declared war on illegal tyres recently, with a media campaign designed to generate considerable media interest. This resulted in him undertaking some 13 radio interviews recently reaching over 1 million radio listeners in the UK.

Figures gathered by Micheldever/Protyre through the company’s branch network and involving a check on almost 1,000 vehicles each week paint a picture of tyre neglect. Over 53 per cent of all vehicles checked had at least one tyre below the legal tread depth minimum of 1.6 mm. Of even greater concern is that almost 96 per cent of vehicle checked had at least one tyre with a tread depth below 2 mm.

These figures were collected during the month of September and represent the highest level of illegal and badly worn tyres recorded by the company through its national network during the past five years.

As an example of the shift in the level of illegal and badly worn tyres the figures recorded in 2008 showed that 15.3 per cent of vehicles have at least one illegal tyre and just over 64 per cent had one tyre below 2mm.

“We shall continue to point out the dangers that illegal tyres pose to road safety,” said Alan Baldwin, “as well as revealing other equally shocking issues related to tyres and road safety including the increasing number of part worn tyres coming into the country which must be monitored and motorists protected.”

Micheldever’s Protyre retail chain currently has 64 outlets, including Protyre Motorsport and reportedly continues to grow through new acquisitions. MTS has established a wholesale distribution network of 13 sites around the UK supplying over 4,500 retailers nationwide. MTS is managed by a team headed by Paul Fox and Richard Sawney with backing from Graphite Capital and Royal Bank of Scotland.