While chatting to the proprietor of Automative Engineering, Uckfield, he told me millions of motorists face a rise in repair bills because of EU plans to scrap a rule which enables thousands of garages to carry out services and repairs cheaply.

The changes mean car manufacturers will no longer be forced to provide parts and computer codes to independent garages.

Instead, motorists will have to have their cars fixed at the manufacturer’s dealership workshops which charge up to 40% more, according to recent figures.

Sine 2002, motorists and independent garages have been protected by an arrangement known as “block exemption”, which means the motor industry must provide both parts and computerised information that garages need to carry out routine repairs.

The EU is expected to scrap block exemption in 2010 which could affect as many as 20 million motorists.

Inevitably, this means that those hardest hit will be the less well off, especially as cars get older and their warranty expires.

These changes may also lead to the loss of thousands of independent garages and a longer wait for repairs.

Also, if computer infor-mation about vehicles is withheld it may be harder for roadside rescue organisations to diagnose faults.

Such changes are, quite simply, unacceptable.

Graham Shevill
Eastbourne Road, Uckfield