Last updated at 13:52, Monday, 08 February 2010

Toyota owners around Cumbria are to be contacted in the coming days about whether their car could develop a fault in its accelerator pedal.

The Japanese car firm has recalled more than eight million cars worldwide because of problems with the accelerator which can prevent effective braking in some models.

Some Toyota garages in Cumbria reported receiving a high volume of calls about the recall, but are telling customers they must wait for recall letters from the firm before action can be taken.

Mechanics at the company’s garages are to be trained in how to fix the fault, which has caused accidents in America, although none have been reported in the UK.

Graeme Calvin, service manager for Myers and Bowman Toyota in Distington, said: “We have had quite a bit of feedback from customers who have seen it on the news, and we are advising them they will be receiving recall letters during the course of the next week.

“The cars have been running perfectly and we have seen no problems at all.”

Toyota says a piece of steel about the size of a postage stamp will cure the accelerator problem that led to the worldwide recall of millions of vehicles.

Toyota insisted the solution, rolled out six days after it temporarily stopped selling some of its most popular models, had been through rigorous testing and would solve the problem for the life of the car.

The repair involves installing a steel shim a couple of millimetres thick in the pedal assembly.

First published at 11:24, Monday, 08 February 2010
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk