Research by Michelin reveals that poor tyre pressure maintenance is costing UK motorists more than £440million, wasting more than 370 million litres of fuel and pumping an additional 1 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.

All of this is before the cost of premature wear on tyres is taken into account.

Michelin’s head of communications, Peter Snelling, said: ‘Last year we checked more than 5,000 cars and the results showed that a large percentage of motorists in this country are simply not taking tyre maintenance seriously.  It really is a matter of life and death and people should learn to check their tyres regularly and thoroughly.’

Michelin will be offering free tyre safety checks at more than 50 locations around the UK in their latest Fill Up With Air campaign.