These customers were glad they had Green Flag breakdown cover when they came unstuck last winter and had to call for help.

Battery bother
It was a cold wet December night when Alma Aldcroft and her two friends returned to her Toyota Corrolla following a concert at their local church in Stockport. Alma struggled to open the central locking of the car, but finally managed to get herself and her two friends inside out of the rain. But when she tried to start the engine, nothing happened. As Alma and her friends wondered what was wrong, a passer by explained to Alma that he had seen that she had left her lights on earlier, but hadn't known who the car belonged to.

Realising her battery was completely flat, Alma decided to call Green Flag from a nearby phone box. A recovery operator arrived at the scene within minutes. He used jump leads to re-charge Alma's battery, and within around ten minutes she was ready to drive home.

Alma said: "The service was extremely good. It couldn't have been better really. The mechanic was so pleasant, a lovely young man."

Electrical fault
Dr Mary Roberts from Writtle near Chelmsford was on her way to visit her friend in Hull when her Rover 25 began to lose power on the A1 near Stamford Bridge. It was around 11.30am on a February morning when Dr Roberts found the car had lost its acceleration and would not exceed 25 miles per hour.

As there was no hard shoulder on the stretch of road she was on, she became quite concerned. "I panicked, but I could see a sign indicating a turn off ahead so I drove with the warning lights on to find a safe place to stop," she said.

Once safely parked, Dr Roberts called Green Flag from her mobile phone and within 12 minutes a recovery agent arrived. He confirmed the car had a serious electrical fault and could not be driven, so he loaded the car onto the truck and took Dr Roberts the remaining 98 miles to Hull with no relay or delays.

Dr Roberts commented: "The lady who spoke on the phone was very reassuring and know straight away exactly where I was, and the engineer was very efficient. After breaking down my journey continued in the recovery vehicle and I was a bit late, but did not miss, my appointment. It is the first time in 20 years I have had to call out Green Flag and I am very impressed."

Next: The essential checks