It was supposed to be a practical joke, but when car nut Kevin Barton placed a newspaper advert claiming he loved his tyres more than his wife, it almost drove her away.

Kevin’s 20-year marriage to Barbara was nearly stalled when she was told of his prank by people coming up to her in the street.

Now the Aldridge businessman, who runs a tyre sales and repair firm, is having to tread very carefully with his beloved after subjecting her to years of playing second fiddle to his obsession.

In the advert, Mr Barton told how he had made a three-piece suite at his home out of black tyres, only for his long-suffering wife to retort: “Either the tyres go or I do!” So he let her go.

And the ad says tyres “don’t need feeding or moan when the football is on.”

But although the advert was meant to be a joke, his wife says it is embarrassing.

“I have had people coming up to me in the street asking if I am the ‘tyre lady’,” she said.

Read more in the Express & StarIt was supposed to be a practical joke, but when car nut Kevin Barton placed a newspaper advert claiming he loved his tyres more than his wife, it almost drove her away.

Kevin’s 20-year marriage to Barbara was nearly stalled when she was told of his prank by people coming up to her in the street.

Now the Aldridge businessman, who runs a tyre sales and repair firm, is having to tread very carefully with his beloved after subjecting her to years of playing second fiddle to his obsession.

In the advert, Mr Barton told how he had made a three-piece suite at his home out of black tyres, only for his long-suffering wife to retort: “Either the tyres go or I do!” So he let her go.

And the ad says tyres “don’t need feeding or moan when the football is on.”

But although the advert was meant to be a joke, his wife says it is embarrassing.

“I have had people coming up to me in the street asking if I am the ‘tyre lady’,” she said. “One woman in a supermarket told me she felt sorry for me.

“He is obsessed with tyres and talks about them all the time. I was really angry when I found out.”

It isn’t the first time Mr Barton has got into trouble with his wife after placing an advert in a newspaper.

In the past he urged men to buy their wives tyres for Christmas. Mrs Barton, aged 52, was herself the recipient of the less-than-romantic gift one yuletide.

Mr Barton, who runs Tyre Save in Merchants Way added: “I wanted an advert to stand out. It was just a bit of fun. The wife didn’t take it too well at first and didn’t speak to me for a while.”

The 57-year-old said of his tyre passion: “It’s the smell and the rubber. I open the door to my garage in the morning and it’s like when you open a bag of wine gums.

“It is a dream job for me. I couldn’t think of a better or more enjoyable way of making a living.”

But Mrs Barton retorted: “I hate them and I have grown to hate them more and more over the years.”