A new service has been launched to help key workers find open garages during the lockdown.

Garages and other car maintenance facilities are currently allowed to continue operating but many have chosen to shut down to protect staff and customers, while others are operating altered or limited services.

In order to help key workers in need of car maintenance who might be struggling to find a service centre, the automotive insight website Cazana has launched a free garage tracking service at KeyworkerGarages.co.uk.

By entering their postcode into the site, those in essential roles such as health care, police or logistics, can identify garages still operating near them and access opening times and contact details.

'An essential service'

While car owners have been given a six-month exemption from MOT testing, millions of motorists still have maintenance and repair requirements and its creators say the online portal aims to help those who are fighting to keep Britain going, by keeping them moving.

The site currently has details of more than 1,000 dealer locations and other garages around the country - most of which are offering discounted services to key workers to keep them on the road.

Many other services are also offering special discounts or deals for key workers, including free breakdown cover and priority servicing.

Cazana is encouraging any centres not listed to submit their details to the site and is particularly keen to identify more locations in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Tom Wood at Cazana commented: “This is a challenging time for both the automotive industry and all those who are on the front line fighting this pandemic and we wanted to do something as a team to help both the nation’s essential key workers and the dealer service departments remaining open.

“I’m massively proud of the team here at Cazana who have been collecting data and have built this new site over the past week with the intention of helping people to stay mobile during this crisis.”