I have been an avid follower of your Telegraph column for a long time, and much appreciate the information you give. It may come as no surprise at the moment but my thoughts have turned to winter tyres. I live in North Yorkshire and would appreciate your advice.

My car is a Dec 04 registered Rover 75 tourer 2ltr, CDI. Wheel size 215/55 R 16. I have never had snow/winter tyres before. Our local garage has offered me a set of four at £87.0 + VAT each.

Do I need four, or would two on the front driving wheels be sufficient? If I keep the tyres on for two or three months and then swap back each year, will they keep in good condition whilst stored? Should I have them fitted to a couple of spare wheels? The tyre guy did not give me the make of tyre which he happened to have in stock. Are there various ones and if so which ones should I avoid.

He said they are very scarce this year(presumably for obvious reasons) and the price is going up almost every day. I was hoping to only pay about £50 or £60 each. Sorry for all the questions but your advice on this would be much appreciated. I generally use my car for long distances and use the A1/M1 type roads quite a lot. I am due to travel down to Eastbourne on Wednesday 8th, but may delay it.