AN investigation has been launched by Halfords after car tyres left outside their Knutsford Road Autocentre were dumped into the Mersey.

A Latchford resident posted pictures on Twitter of the tyres in the river directly behind the Halfords garage.

But another local business has defended Halfords, revealing that youths from the area were to blame.

The incident was initially brought to the attention of Halfords by Will Sheen, who tweeted: “£34m spent on the Mersey River Defence and @Halfords_uk dispose of their waste tyres straight over the wall, disgrace.”

The company has responded by stating it will make sure the tyres are stored in a more secure location in the future.

A spokesperson from Halfords Autocentres said: “At Halfords Autocentres we take our environmental responsibilities very seriously and recycle over half a million tyres every year, so we’re grateful to Will for bringing this to our attention.

“In an isolated incident, tyres were left unsecured outside this shop and our investigations have revealed that they were later thrown into the nearby river by unknown members of the public.

“We are working with our landlord to find a permanent location to securely store all tyres that are awaiting recycling and have contacted the local environment agency.”

Classic Home Improvements Warrington, a neighbouring business on Knutsford Road, replied to Will’s tweet stating that youths were behind the tyre dumping and not Halfords.

They said: “I think you might find that it is youths that have thrown the tyres into the Mersey.

“Kids regularly climb the walls and security gates causing damage on our premises.

“We have tried to fish out things that have been thrown in, but it’s not always possible as the silt weighs them down and it’s too dangerous to climb into the river.

“Unfortunately, it’s a sign of the times and anti-social behaviour is something else businesses have to deal with.”