'We will not sell every cold weather tyre on our shelves by the end of March – and that's deliberately so,' said Peter Fairlie, group sales director at ATS Euromaster.  'We've protected a percentage of our stocks, in each of the key sizes, to ensure we can support our customers if they suffer a puncture.'

Much of the early demand for cold weather tyres during winter 2010/2011 was led by NHS Ambulance Trusts spanning England, Wales and Scotland – with ATS Euromaster fitting the high-grip seasonal tyres to hundreds of ambulances and rapid-response paramedic cars nationwide.

This strong demand from ambulance fleets followed a cold weather tyre trial jointly organised by ATS Euromaster and Michelin at the Motor Industry Research Association's (MIRA) automotive test facility at Nuneaton in March 2010. It involved three laden "blue-light" vehicles, all of which showed considerable improvements in average braking distance when fitted with cold weather tyres. 

In the wake of the trial, ATS Euromaster says it remains committed to ensuring suppliers of winter tyres for fleets in the coming weeks.

'Every business wants the reassurance that you will have product available in the event of a tyre failure. This is particularly critical for blue-light fleets, where fleet availability can arguably make the difference between life and death,' Mr Fairlie added.