National award recognition for Morecambe’s inspirational ‘tyre lady’

A road safety champion from Morecambe has been recognised at a national industry awards ceremony.

Sophie Lyden won the ‘Inspiring Female’ category at the Automechanika 2024 Garage Awards, at a ceremony held last week in Birmingham.

Celebrating the best in the garage industry, the awards aim to recognise the hard work, dedication, and commitment independent garages and technicians have contributed towards ensuring affordable mobility in the UK.

Sophie is Depot Manager at family business Westgate Tyres, and the founder of Fresh Drivers UK, a motoring group for young and new drivers, that aims to help people become more confident on the roads and in a garage environment, stopping anxiety and preventing young or new drivers avoiding issues on their vehicles.

Sophie, who is known as the ‘Tyre Lady’ for her work in promoting road safety, said after the win: ‘’What the hell! I cannot believe I won the Automechanika UK garage awards ‘Inspiring Female’ award!

‘’I am in shock!

‘’I shed a tear with (an industry colleague) who told me I am an inspiration because I save people’s lives with what I do. To hear someone say that well, it shows what I am trying to do is having some impact.’’

Sophie adds: ‘’From working at the garage I see customers bringing their cars down in some questionable conditions and this has lead me to start campaigning for safer roads and safer mindsets regarding driving on the road.

‘’We need to start educating our road users to think smart and stay safe.

‘’We shouldn’t have to fear that we may end up in an RTC (Road Traffic Collision) when out driving. We should be able to drive with confidence and not have to worry about who is driving next to us.’’

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