YOU may think that when you drive your car home immediately after its annual service it should be fit to be on the road.

But a shock new undercover investigation by Department of Trade and Industry officials reveals you could be wrong.

Nearly nine out of ten garages in the UK are failing to properly service customers cars, according to the investigation - and more than half failed to pick up a safety-related defect, ranging from low brake fluid to worn tyres.

Mystery shoppers visited 119 franchised garages, 88 independent garages and 58 fast-fit centres across the country during the investigation.

Their survey revealed that 86 per cent of garages, both independent and franchised, missed at least one fault on a car when it was taken in for servicing.

Astonishingly, only five per cent of garages surveyed carried out a thorough service in accordance with manufacturers' requirements. More than half missed a "safety-related" defect and four out of ten missed out at least one item that should have been included in the service.

Even more worryingly, the survey reveals women are being given more of a raw deal than men.

For 51 per cent of women, the garage missed at least one service item - compared with 33 per cent for men.

Of the fast-fit centres surveyed, more than a quarter recommended unnecessary work and only three per cent carried out a thorough check and rectified simple faults.

Consumer Minister Melanie Johnson, who met car industry representatives this week to discuss ways of tackling the low standards, warned them they had to pull their socks up.

"In the UK, consumers spend £9 billion a year on servicing and repairing their cars," she said.

"We all need to be confident the work will be properly carried out and that our cars are safe to drive.

"This mystery shopping research shows that consumers are suffering and the industry needs to take strong action to improve standards," said the Minister.

Ms Johnson welcomed a pledge from the representatives to sign up in principle to develop a "Good Garage" scheme.

But in the meantime, how do you know that when you take your car in for a service, it is being done properly?

Fortunately, if you live in York, it may not be as difficult as it sounds.

City of York Council's trading standards office teamed up with motor dealers in the city more than three years ago to launch the Motor Traders' Fair Trading Scheme.

Now almost 20 firms have signed up, ranging from new car dealers to repair shops and tyre and exhaust centres.

What it means is that if you go to one of the firms accredited under the scheme, you should be confident of getting a fair deal.

Members are accredited by trading standards, and awarded a special certificate. They pledge to deal with customers fairly and courteously, to comply with consumer law and protect the rights of customers, and to set up a complaints procedure.

"That's not saying that things cannot go wrong," said Liz Levett, of York Trading Standards. "But if things do go wrong they will be dealt with in a proper manner."

One of the York firms that belongs to the scheme is the Car Care Centre in James Street.

"If you don't know much about cars, it can obviously be a worry trying to find a mechanic who you know will do a good job for a fair price," said John Lamb, the centre's workshop foreman.

"The good thing about the fair trading scheme in York is that at least you know you're coming to a dealer who has been properly vetted and who cares enough about doing a good job to sign up for the scheme."

- For details of garages who are members of the Fair Trading Scheme, phone York Trading Standards on 01904 551562.

Updated: 08:48 Thursday, September 19, 2002