Road safety group TyreSafe has given its support to a road safety campaign by Hertfordshire Police after the force identified defective tyres as one of the top five causes of death and injury on the roads.

The force identified the five main causes as speed, drink driving, illness, fatigue and distraction, not wearing seat belts and tyres.

Hertfordshire Police's strategic road policing inspector David Partridge said: “I think some people might find it surprising that tyres play such a significant part of road safety, and I hope that our campaign will encourage them to make checking their tyres an essential part of their vehicle maintenance routine”.

Research by TyreSafe shows that 12% of cars and vans on the road have at least one defective tyre, while a further 12% of cars and vans have tyres with treads below 2mm.