AA celebrates 40 years of 'get you home'

THIS MONTH the Automobile Association is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its Recovery service - originally called AA Relay - that promised to get you home or to your destination.

Back in 1973 there were very limited options if your broken-down car could not be fixed at the side of the road. The AA patrol could only tow you to your local garage to have it fixed or you would have to carry on your journey without the car.

But for the modest sum of £2.20 a year on top of standard AA membership the Relay service meant a guarantee that your journey would be completed - even if it meant your car was passed from one patrol to another.

Robert Jones, AA recovery patrol of the year, says: "Thankfully our modern AA recovery trucks can seat up to six passengers in air-conditioned comfort and cover hundreds of miles at a time, which makes for a more pleasant journey than in the days of the early transporters.

"When you’re stuck at the side of the road, you just want to get to your destination. That’s what AA Recovery provides."

Recovery is the most popular AA membership option, and in 2011 the firm completed 850,000 recoveries covering 18.5 million miles in the process.

By Press Association reporters