Birmingham City Council’s trading standards officers recently found that nine out of ten part worn tyres examined in an inspection failed to meet the minimum legal standards. In response industry body TyreSafe is publicising the results of the investigation in order to raise awareness of what it calls “the high levels of risk associated with buying part worn tyres.”

According to Birmingham City Council’s trading standards officers, tyres which had nails embedded, illegal tread depth, exposed cords, inadequate markings and one tyre which was 17 years old were among the failures. The investigation comes just a few weeks after TyreSafe found that more than one in ten drivers was more likely to buy part worn tyres compared with 12 months ago.

The investigation formed part of an ongoing programme by Birmingham City Council to target sales of part worn tyres. This year was its ninth annual investigation and saw it buy 10 tyres from retailers across the city. Over the course of the entire programme, the team bought and tested more than 190 part worn tyres with 25 per cent found to have “some form of structural defect.” In this year’s survey 30 per cent of tyres had structural failings including illegal tread depth and a nail embedded in the casing while 90 per cent did not have the correct markings required by law, which identify them as a part worn tyre.