FLEETS face the burden of an extra charge to cover the rocketing expense of tyre disposal. The National Tyre Distributors Association says the charge is inevitable and has launched a campaign through its 2,000-plus members to introduce a 50p per tyre charge.

All of the NTDA's major chain members, including ATS, National Tyres and Autocare and Motorway, are backing the levy, which is being introduced on a voluntary basis. Richard Edy, director of the NTDA, said: 'We would expect fleet companies both large and small to accept this small charge for disposal. We will be doing everything in our power to educate them on the reasons why. If we can't solve the problem in partnership with the fleet companies then we will have to seriously consider what happens to those tyres.'

Even with just normal wear and tear on tyres the cost to contract hire companies will run into tens of thousands of pounds, which they will have to pass on to customers or absorb themselves. This has resulted in many refusing to pay the voluntary charge, putting pressure back on the tyre retailers. They in turn may have to resort to asking fleets to dispose of their own used tyres after new ones are fitted.