Luckily for drivers, the RAC was the first breakdown assistance provider to equip all its iconic orange vans with a multi-fit, five-stud spare wheel, which its patrols can quickly fit to a stricken vehicle in the event of a puncture.

From this week, the RAC is also now rolling out a new version of the spare featuring four studs, as car manufacturers are increasingly fitting four-stud wheels to their models, meaning it can help more drivers than ever.

The RAC’s annual Report on Motoring released in October found drivers’ anger with the poor state of Britain’s local roads has reached its highest point in nine years, making it the top overall concern by a considerable margin, having displaced the price of fuel as motorists’ main worry.

Earlier this month, the RAC released figures that showed its patrols had attended a record number of breakdowns over the summer where potholes were to blame – nearly 6,000 separate breakdown jobs between July and September, the highest number over this period since data was first recorded in 2006.