Emergency mobile tyre fitting on the A167(M)
Come off the power smoothly instead of braking hard on the Central Motorway's narrow two lanes, and hold a straight line towards Pilgrim Street or the Great North Road end rather than stopping on the viaduct. The A167(M) has no hard shoulder anywhere through Newcastle city centre, so get every passenger up and clear behind a barrier before anything else. Fitting a wheel here starts at £120.
If you are in a live lane, do not attempt a tyre change
No all-lane-running scheme has ever applied here. The A167(M) has no hard shoulder because it was built through the 1970s as a two-lane urban motorway with a double-decked section where one carriageway runs beneath the other; the shoulder was never there to begin with. Get the vehicle as far left as you can, leave by the nearside doors, stand behind the barrier up the embankment, and call National Highways on 0300 123 5000, or 999 if you cannot get out of the vehicle. They can close the lane above you from the control room. Book a fitter once you are behind a barrier, never before. Full guidance is on National Highways.
On the A167(M) Central Motorway through Newcastle, ease off and pull up tight behind a barrier, since no stretch of this road has a hard shoulder, then ring National Highways on 0300 123 5000. Call 999 if anyone cannot get clear of the car. A mobile tyre change on the A167(M) starts at £120, tyre included.
The A167(M) is Newcastle's Central Motorway, a short elevated and part double-decked route built through the 1970s to carry the Great North Road across the top of the city centre, from Pilgrim Street near the Tyne Bridge north to the Great North Road and Town Moor interchange on the Gosforth side. Between that northern junction and the next one south, the carriageways stack, with the southbound lanes running beneath the northbound ones, the only stretch of motorway in the country built that way.
Two lanes wide for most of its length and never given a hard shoulder, the road carries city centre traffic, Coast Road commuters joining at Jesmond Road, and traffic crossing between the Tyne Bridge and the A1 corridor to the north. In 2026 National Highways and Newcastle City Council are running a multimillion pound repair programme on the elevated viaduct, the first major structural work on the road in over twenty years, with lane closures on the northbound carriageway between Jesmond Road and Great North Road through the summer.
Where A167(M) tyre failures concentrate
A167(M) Newcastle Central Motorway, 2 miles, Pilgrim Street to the Great North Road / Town Moor interchange, through Newcastle upon Tyne city centre, Tyne and Wear.
The Jesmond Road merge
Coast Road traffic joining from the A1058 merges into the narrow two-lane carriageway at speed, and the tight curve there is where sidewalls get clipped against the central reservation.
The double-decked section near Great North Road
Where the southbound carriageway runs beneath the northbound one, the lower deck sees less daylight and more standing spray in wet weather, both of which hide debris until a wheel finds it.
The 2026 viaduct repair works, northbound
Lane reductions between Jesmond Road and Great North Road put traffic through a narrower gap than usual, and contraflow kerbing during roadworks is a common source of sidewall cuts rather than simple punctures.
A167(M) services we cover
If you can reach a service area safely, do. A fitter can work on you in a car park with no live traffic alongside, which is both faster and far safer than a hard shoulder.
| Service area | Between |
|---|
A167(M) tyre prices
There is no separate charge for coming out to you, and the tyre is bought in at cost and confirmed before any work begins. A 1.5x multiplier applies between 23:00 and 07:00, which is when 24 hour tyre fitting on the A167(M) is booked most, since the Central Motorway carries traffic long after the city centre shops have shut.
| Service | Price | What is included |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile tyre change, supply and fit | From £120 | Plus the tyre at cost. Newcastle city centre trade holds decent stock for cars and vans without a long wait. |
| Fit the spare you already carry | From £80 | The fastest way clear of the Central Motorway if a usable spare is aboard, since both ends drop onto ordinary Newcastle streets within moments. |
| Puncture repair | From £60 | Only where the damage sits in the repairable central area under British Standard AU159 with tread above 1.6mm. |
| Recovery if it cannot be fitted | From £70 | No stretch of the Central Motorway carries a hard shoulder, so a job that cannot be done on the spot moves off the viaduct to the streets around Pilgrim Street or the Great North Road end. |
Flat tyre on the A167(M): what to do
Go left: ease off, hold it straight
Lift off rather than braking hard on the narrow two-lane carriageway, especially on the double-decked section, and aim for Pilgrim Street or the Great North Road end rather than stopping on the viaduct itself.
Get safe: everyone up and behind the barrier
Switch the hazards on without delay. Everyone climbs out through the passenger doors and moves well clear of the running lanes, since there is no verge to speak of on an elevated two-lane road like this.
Get help: give a landmark and dial
National Highways answer breakdowns on 0300 123 5000. Name the nearest landmark, Jesmond Road, New Bridge Street or Pilgrim Street, since there is no marker post system here. Anyone who cannot get clear needs 999 first.
No red X on the Central Motorway itself, but there is nearby
The Central Motorway carries no overhead signals of its own. Beyond it on the wider network, a red X marks a lane that must not be entered, and emergency areas, spaced along the all-lane-running sections, are marked with blue signs and an orange SOS phone symbol.
The legal minimum tread depth in the UK is 1.6mm across the central three quarters of the tyre, and the fine is up to £2,500 and three penalty points per tyre. A fitter cannot legally refit a tyre below that, which is why a worn tyre becomes a replacement rather than a repair.
What drives the A167(M), and what fails
Coast Road commuters
Traffic joining from the A1058 at Jesmond Road adds a steady flow of daily commuters from North Tyneside and Tynemouth, running the same short stretch twice a day on tyres that rarely get the chance to warm through fully.
A167(M) tyre failures through the year
2026, roadworks through the summer
The current viaduct repair programme narrows the northbound carriageway between Jesmond Road and the Great North Road end, and contraflow running through a road that was already only two lanes wide leaves very little margin for a wandering wheel.
Getting a tyre near the A167(M)
The A167(M) has no services of its own, being a short city centre motorway rather than an intercity route. A car that can still move is better aimed at the streets around Pilgrim Street or the Great North Road end, where a fitter has flat ground clear of live traffic.
Newcastle's motor trade is dense, and common car and van sizes are close at hand from the West Road to Byker. Arrival is calculated from the accepting operator's actual position in city traffic, slower than usual while the viaduct works continue, so it remains a target rather than a promise.
Tread, pressure and the law
1.6mm, all the way round
The legal minimum covers the full circumference and the central three quarters of the tread width, not one spot. A moulded bar sits inside each main groove at that precise depth, and tread worn down to meet it has already crossed into illegal territory. City centre mileage on tight curves wears the outer shoulder first, an edge fewest drivers check.
Fines per tyre, and instant MOT failures
Each tyre below the limit carries its own penalty of up to £2,500 and three points. A cut, bulge or exposed cord fails an MOT immediately regardless of tread depth, and kerbing on the Central Motorway's tight curves is a routine cause of exactly that.
A167(M) tyre questions
Can you change a tyre on the hard shoulder of the A167(M)?
No, because there isn't one. The Central Motorway was built through the 1970s as a two-lane elevated road, part of it double-decked, with no room for a hard shoulder anywhere. When a car cannot reach Pilgrim Street or the Great North Road end unaided, a TowManVan fitter has it brought up to the surface streets instead.
Who do I call for a flat tyre on the A167(M)?
National Highways, on 0300 123 5000, once you are up and behind a barrier. Name the nearest landmark, Jesmond Road, New Bridge Street or Pilgrim Street. Anyone who cannot get clear of the vehicle needs 999 first.
Is it illegal to change a tyre on the motorway?
It is not against the law, but the A167(M) gives almost no room to do it safely, two narrow lanes with no shoulder and, on part of the route, another carriageway directly overhead. That is why recovery to the surface streets is the usual answer here.
How much does emergency tyre fitting on the A167(M) cost?
A mobile tyre change including supply and fit starts at £120, fitting a spare you carry is from £80, and a repairable puncture is from £60. Recovery off the Central Motorway starts at £70. A 1.5x multiplier applies between 23:00 and 07:00.
What if there is no hard shoulder on my stretch of the A167(M)?
There is no hard shoulder anywhere on this road, double-decked section included. Climb up and clear on foot, then report it; the car gets brought up to Pilgrim Street or the Great North Road end rather than worked on where it stopped.
Book a A167(M) tyre fitter in the app
Your location comes from GPS, so you do not have to read a marker post. The price is fixed before you confirm and you track the fitter in.
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Every operator is DBS checked, insured for hire and reward, and rated after each job. Prices are fixed before dispatch, never quoted as a range.
Own a van or recovery truck? Take jobs through the same appMobile tyre fitters wanted on the A167(M)
A short, mostly two-lane motorway across Newcastle city centre, part of it stacked in the UK's only double-decked section, with no hard shoulder anywhere. Whoever covers it will already know Pilgrim Street, Jesmond Road and the Great North Road end. Fitters keep 90 percent of every job for their first twelve months, with no joining fee, no weekly subscription, no bidding and no charge for jobs you decline. You set your own radius and hours. We are signing up fitters along the A167(M) ahead of the 1st of October 2026 launch.
Cover the A167(M) with usTom Hargreaves - Head of Recovery Standards
Tom spent 12 years patrolling UK motorways with the AA before joining TowManVan. He signs off the roadside safety guidance and every price on this page. Questions? Email tom@towmanvan.co.uk.
Last updated 19 August 2026. Apps launch 1st of October 2026.