New research commissioned by Kwik-Fit has discovered that as many as 16.7 million motorists’ tyres could be suffering from premature ageing - a condition that tends to affect tyres that are over five years old.

While tyres contain anti-oxidising chemicals in order to slow down the rate of ageing, factors such as infrequent use and poor storage can accelerate the ageing process and render them unroadworthy. This is why tyre manufacturers recommend that tyres over five years of age are visually inspected for signs of premature ageing.

To help identify their age all tyres display a coded date of manufacture, but even so, the untrained eye is unlikely to be able to translate the ‘tyroglyphics’ that appear on the side of the tyre.

To help motorists understand how old their tyres are, Kwik-Fit is now offering customers the option of a free ‘tyre age’ check at any of its centres - without an appointment.