Good news for the residents of Mexborough who were forced to flee from their homes after an inferno broke out at a tyres depot.

Locals who lived close by to White Lea Grove industrial units were evacuated as firefighters tackled the tyres blaze earlier this week.

The South Yorkshire resident were asked to leave their homes for safety reasons, while the fire crews worked for three days to put the fire out.

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said the cause of the fire, which involved 120,000 tyres, was still unknown.

About 20 people were forced to leave their homes for two nights after the fire began.

They were offered alternative accommodation by Doncaster Council at a nearby hotel.

All roads affected by the fire have been reopened and Doncaster Council said air monitoring was continuing to be carried out by the Environment Agency.

Denna Bowman, Head Office

Caravan magazine have got some fantastic prizes to give away, including a new set of tyres,
in its fantastic bumper summer issue.

Readers have got the chance to win £250 worth of new tyres, supplied and fitted by etyres, and there are loads of other great products up for grabs too, including a set of walkie-talkies, a caravan ramp, even a low-watt kettle and toaster.

etyres is a natural choice for caravan owners who need replacement tyres. our convenient mobile fitting service means they will never have to worry about manoeuvring their vehicle into a high street tyre depot again.

Our free mobile fitting service means we change the tyres at a location of the customers choice - at home or work - and of course in the case of caravanners, this is usually right on their doorstep.

And because our mobile service cuts out the need for expensive tyre depots, our overheads are low so we pass the savings on to our customers with cheaper prices - up to 40 per cent less then the leading tyre chains.

Denna Bowman, Head Office

By Alex Kapadia

Mercedes are pinning their hopes on resolving a problem with their tyres which they believe is holding them back from winning Formula One races.

Drivers Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher are confident that they will be able to achieve at least one Grand Prix victory in the final 10 rounds of the season if the tyres issue is resolved.

The Brackley-based team looks set to surrender the world titles it won last year under the Brawn name at the end of the season having been unable to compete at the front with Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari.

Despite introducing a big update for last week’s European Grand Prix – including a blown diffuser and a further improved F-duct system – Mercedes slumped to its worst performance of the season as it missed Q3 altogether and then scored a single point in the race only after other cars ahead received time penalties.

However, the team is confident its car has much more potential than it is currently able to show as its competitiveness is being masked by performance problems with fresh tyres on low fuel – issues which have hampered it in qualifying at the past two races in particular.

After a poor performance in Valencia a Asked in Valencia last weekend, Rosberg denied the team was out of the running and insisted: “…it is still early days.

“[There are] A lot of different races coming, Monza which is also a very different track and places like that, where the occasional chance will [come] at least.”

If you have just found out one of your tyres has got a puncture, here are a couple of very interesting things that might bring a smile to your face.

Firstly, consider the case of the owner of a Bugatti Veyron, one of world’s greatest supercars, who got a nail stuck in one of his tyres recently.

According to Harry Metcalfe, who is doing a round up of the top 50 best supercars in the world for the Sunday Times, this poor guy was left with a much bigger hole in his wallet by the end of the saga.

Metcalfe wrote in his new InGear column: “One owner I know picked up a nail in his Veyron’s rear tyre recently but, as Bigatto doesn’t allow any repairs, he was forced to fit a replacement. And they can be fitted only in pairs. The final bill for the two tyres? £14,500.”

No surprise to learn that the £1.2 million Veyron has unique Michelin run-flat tyres that are reputedly the world’s most expensive production tyres.

Metcalf sums up the running costs - including replacement tyres - of the supercar as ‘hideous’, adding owners need “pockets as overflowing as a Gulf of Mexico gusher” to keep one of these babies on the road.

Now for the second interesting thing - if you have suffered a punctured tyre and you are an existing etyres customer, there is a good chance we will be able to repair it - and the cost to our valued customers? Nil, zero, zilch.

So the moral of the story is if you want to cut your motoring bills, don’t buy a Bugatti Veyron and make sure you buy your tyres from etyres so that all your future puncture repairs are free!

Denna Bowman

By Oliver Hall

Dozens of residents were evacuated from their homes yesterday after hundreds of tyres went up in flames at a warehouse.

Around 60 firefighters tackled the blaze at the tyres recycling plant in Mexborough, South Yorkshire, which rapidly spread to nearby buildings in the yard.

Residents on Frederick Street and Cowood Road - which are adjacent to the site - had to be evacuated from their homes to the Plant Hotel and then on to a rest centre in Conisbrough.

Others were advised to keep their doors and windows closed as the noxious smoke billowed over the town.

Doncaster Council said it had opened the Conisbrough Social Education Centre as a rest centre for residents who were evacuated from homes on Frederick Street and Cawood Street.

Jane Miller, director of neighbourhoods and communities for Doncaster Council, said: “We are awaiting the results of air quality testing to see if it is safe for residents to return home and go outdoors.

“In the meantime, residents in Mexborough are still advised to keep doors and windows closed. As a precaution please stay inside until further notice due to the large amount of smoke in the area.”

Over the past few weeks, Sunday Times readers have been venting their frustration and disappointment over space-saver tyres on the InGear letters page.

But yesterday Mike O’Neill, from the Isle of Dogs, east London, rolled out an impressive defense for the controversial tyres under the heading “Less whine, more wine”.

He wrote: “The whingers who complain about space-saver wheels really annoy me (InGear, Letters, last week and June 13). What sor of tyres do they use and how badly do they drive? Four years ago I ran over a lorry exhaust with my VW Golf on the RN10 a few miles north of Bordeaux. I was at night on a dark road and I should be veen on full beam - c’est la vie!

“Puncture? More like a ripped tyre and smashed alloy wheel, but the car still moved. Driving no faster that 50mph, the narrow wheel took me the several hundred miles back to London, with only the hoots of les routiers to disturb the calm.

“I did have a standard spare when I bought my car in 1988 but changed it for the smaller one some years ago, as every bit of space saved is weight reduced (and more wine brought home), and using the little wheel brought impressive fuel consumption of 54mpg. I can’t be the only one to appreciate these clever gizmos, so let’s have less moaning, please.”

Denna Bowman, Head Office

Famous for tyres and food guides, it seems Michelin have greased the way to combine the two with its latest product.

The Michelin Primacy MXM4 tyres, which are due to be launched on the UK replacement tyre market on 1st July, are a new luxury performance tyre containing a smattering of sunflower oil.

According to the French tyre manufacturer, the ingredient is used in the tyres compound to enable it “to maintain its edge in wet and snowy weather while still delivering safety, all-weather handling, great ride quality and comfort that luxury consumers demand.”

But the idea has got top motoring expert and Sunday Mirror columnist Quentin Willson in a bit of a stew.

Under the headline “Stop quicker with sunflower oil…” he told his readers in yesterday’s paper: “From July you can buy Michelin tyres impregnated with sunflower oil. Claimed to increase grip and improve handling, the Michelin Primacy MXM4 will stop 19ft shorter than its competitors because the oil maintains the rubber’s elasticity What next? Snow tyres from shallots, or low profiles from leeks.”

Denna Bowman, Head Office

Bridgestone has revised and raised its consolidated financial projections for the first half of its fiscal year on the back of increased demand for tyres.

The Japanese tyres manufacturer has also released its projections for the full year.

For the first half ending June 30, 2010, Bridgestone predicts net income of 37 billion yen on net sales of 1.38 trillion yen. The company previously had estimated income and sales of 27 billion yen and 1.36 trillion yen, respectively, for the first half.

Bridgestone says: “The company anticipates its half-year operating income, oridinary income and net income will exceed the previous financial projections primarily as a result of an increase in tyre unit sales and improved tyre prices in overseas markets.”

For the full year, Bridgestone estimates that despite rising raw material costs, its results will be up year over year.

“The company predicts an increase in tyre unit sales compared to the previous year on a global basis, including Japan, the Americas and Europe,” says Bridgestone. “It also expects sales in its diversified products businesses to exceed those of the prior year.”

Sebastian Vettel may have taken the chequered flag, with Lewis Hamilton coming home second - but it was Kamui Kobayashi who stole the show with his spectacular driving and use of tyres at the European Grand Prix.

Hiroshi Yasukawa, director of motorsport for Bridgestone tyres, said: “Congratulations to Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull Racing for their win today.

“Well done also to Kamui Kobayashi for using a great tyre strategy for a strong result for the BMW Sauber F1 Team, who have had many changes to the team since last season, so this was great points finish for them.”

Hirohide Hamashima, director of motorsport tyre development for Bridgestone, added: “Today tyre performance was strong from both tyres, and we saw fastest laps being set by both compounds.

“The track conditions continued to improve throughout the race. Sebastian Vettel drove very strongly and he did not fall foul of the rules, unlike other drivers today.

“Kamui Kobayashi demonstrated the durability of the medium tyres here with his long first stint, setting competitive lap times, even with over 50 laps completed on them.

“He was then able to use the super soft tyres when the track was most rubbered in, enabling him to overtake even on a track which is not well known for its overtaking opportunities.”

Alex Kapadia, Operations Team

By Oliver Hall

A thick cloud of smoke filled the sky as firefighters tackled a huge tyres blaze at a disused factory.

The fire raged through the building in Trowell on the Nottngham-Derbyshire border after around 3,000 tyres caught light.

An investigation has been launched after fire broke out at the former factory on Ilkeston Road and the building was badly damaged on Friday night.

Derbyshire fire spokesman Simon Fairchild said the tyres were allowed to burn out naturally to stop pollution in the River Erewash from run-off.

He said: “There were about 3,000 tyres stored in the basement and we were informed by the Environment Agency that we should not use water but just control the incident.

“The environmental impact of water run-off from the fire in the local area would have been disastrous.”

The three-storey building was badly damaged and will be demolished as soon as possible, the fire service said.