Under current UK tyre law, you could receive 3 penalty points on your driving license and a fine of up to £2,500 per tyre if your tyres are found to be illegal.
For your tyres to be legal here's what you need to do.
1) Correct tyre fitment
Firstly, you must choose the correct tyre fitment for the vehicle and in most cases this is simply by replacing your tyre with the same specification as the original tyre fitment when the vehicle was new.
Please note, when replacing your tyres, you do not have to fit the same brand of tyre. The choice of tyre brand is entirely up to you.
All tyres must have a service description (i.e. load and speed index)
If the vehicle was to operate outside the service description indicated on the sidewall e.g. at a higher speed or overloaded then the tyres would be deemed to be unsuitable for the use, and a prosecution would follow.
If you have not owned your vehicle from new and you are unsure about the tyres please feel free to check with us that the tyre fitment on your vehicle is correct.
Tyre sidewall markings can be confusing - for an explanation, please see Tyre Sidewall Markings
2) Tyre condition
Secondly, you must maintain your tyres in a roadworthy condition as follows;
Cars, light vans and light trailers MUST have a tread depth of at least 1.6 mm across the central three quarters of the breadth of the tread AND around the entire circumference - see below.
A cut in excess of 25mm or 10% of the section width of the tyre, whichever is the greater, measured in any direction on the outside of the tyre and deep enough to reach the ply or cord would deem the tyre illegal.
If there is any cut in the tyre no matter how small which exposes cords, then the tyre is illegal.
If there is any lump, bulge or tear caused by separation or partial failure of the tyre structure, the tyre will not be roadworthy and will therefore be illegal.
These spare wheels are restricted to 50mph.