Wholesaler, retailer and TyreSafe tread part worn campaign trail with Cornish MP

Micheldever Tyre Services (MTS) has joined forces with a leading independent tyre retailer and TyreSafe highlight illegal part worn tyres.

MTS, Steve Andrews Tyres, based in St Austell, and TyreSafe are working to help shine a light on the world of part worn tyres, with their campaigning efforts taking them all the way to Westminster.

MTS sales director Alan Baldwin, Steve and Dean Andrews, directors of Steve Andrews Tyres, and Stuart Jackson, TyreSafe chairman, met recently at Westminster with Steve Double, MP for St Austell and Newquay, to discuss the problems posed by illegal part worn tyres.

Steve Andrews, said: “During our meeting Steve Double was truly aghast at the magnitude of the issues with part worn tyres. He wants to focus on the problems with part worn tyres that he believes will galvanise house opinion. These include safety issues, environmental impacts and the cost to Government through the loss of taxation revenue.

“One solution put forward was the possibility, post Brexit, of banning part worn imports from the EU. Overall it was a very constructive meeting and another positive step forward in raising awareness of the issues around part worn tyres.”

Alan Baldwin, said: “MTS is committed to defending the tyre business of independent tyre retailers and the issue of part worn tyres is a good example of our dedication to working to protect reputable tyre businesses from the impact of dubious and illegal practice within the market.

“We are thankful to Steve Andrews for his ongoing work in raising the issue of illegal part worn tyres and facilitating the meeting with Steve Double, MP.

“Steve Double really engaged with the issue and he genuinely shares our concerns about part worn illegal tyres to the point that he is looking at raising this issue at a higher level.

“We actively support the NTDA call to drill the sidewalls of demounted casings and urge all responsible retailers, from the largest national retailers to single tyre outlet stores, to follow suit with Protyre in taking this practical action to stop UK part worn tyres entering the market.

“It’s also quite disgraceful that overseas tyres markets can avoid environmental casing disposal costs in their own markets by selling part worn casings to the UK , where we again pick up the disposal costs in both hard cash and fly tipping terms.

It’s estimated that around 6 million part worn tyres are sold in the UK each year, with 99 per cent sold illegally due to them not being properly marked or tested and around 34 per cent of these containing potentially dangerous forms of damage or defects.

As well as safety and revenue concerns, part worn tyres are shown to have a significant environmental impact with 4 million additional scrap casings generated for disposal in the UK. Put simply, the approximate 6 million part worns sold in the UK each year would easily be replaced by 2 million new tyres, and at significantly better value to the consumer.

Many of the part worn casings dumped into the UK market each year are from European countries such as Germany, the largest source of part worns, or Austria where a winter tyre minimum tread depth of 4 mm has undoubtedly led to further part worn tyres entering into the UK market.