Undercover officers from Cornwall Council's Fair Trading team have carried out checks on garages across the county.

They have been visiting garages and service centres to ensure work and safety checks on vehicles are being carried out properly and to identify unnecessary work.

Officers were sent to a sample of garages, including national chains and independent businesses. Four of the seven garages tested were found to have missed at least two significant service items which should have been checked.

Two of those four were found to have overstated the severity of some of the faults found, with one stating work was needed in two areas when in fact it was not required at all.

Cornwall Council Senior Trading Standards Officer Gary Webster said: 'We targeted our project at those businesses for which we have received complaints about servicing and repairs over the last 12 months.

'It was heartening to find that three garages did a good job but disappointing to find that the rest failed to check some fundamental aspects of the vehicle, including tyre pressures (particularly spare tyres), windscreen wipers, brake fluid condition and the coolant antifreeze.

'In some vehicles we introduced minor faults which a garage would have been expected to check as part of carrying out a service. We found these basic faults were missed in almost every case.

'We also noted that certain garages were very quick to offer a raft of extra service items, many of which would be of limited benefit but which would substantially increase the bill.'

Trading Standards will now give follow-up advice to garages failing to check service items. A formal investigation will be carried out on the garage recommending unnecessary work.