County Durham woman stuns stranger by changing tyre herself

Comedian Elaine Robertson, from Consett, has gone viral after claiming she left a stranger stunned when she discovered she had a flat tyre after leaving a gym, and returning to her car in a Morrisons car park.

Explaining that she was already in the process of swapping the wheel for a spare, Robertson said she became aware of a man watching her from nearby.

“I think I just broke a man,” she said in a post on Instagram, which has raked in 1.9million views.

Elaine Robertson changing a flat tyre in a Morrisons car park in Consett, after a stranger questioned whether she knew how to replace the wheel herself (Image: elainerobertson_ on Instagram)

The 31-year-old said: “It was really flat – and I could sense a man was watching.

“I look at him and I’m like ‘you alright’ and he’s like ‘you’ve got a flat tyre ’, and I was like ‘aye I know’.

“He was like ‘I don’t know if you’re going to be able to drive home on that pet because you’re going to have to get home for your dad or your boyfriend to change it for you’.”

Robertson told the man she planned to fit the spare tyre herself, but he appeared unconvinced despite her already having the car jacked up and the equipment laid out.

 She said: “He asked, ‘Do you even know how to change a tyre?’ – bearing in mind at this point I’d wrenched up my car and I’m under it.

“I took the hubcaps off – I used scissors I’d borrowed from Pets at Home Consett, and I already had all the gear out.”

The content creator, who has performed at Edinburgh Fringe, said she assured the man it was not her first time changing a tyre but claimed he continued to watch as she repaired.

She said: “I thought that was the end of that and I could change my tyre in peace but he just sort of stood and watched me change the whole thing.

“I don’t think he believed that I could change it.”

“When I was finished my business I looked up and he disappeared – I think he literally evaporated in disbelief that lasses can change tyres,” she added.

Elaine Robertson demonstrates how to change a tyre in a follow-up video after her viral Morrisons car park encounter attracted thousands of views online. (Image: elainerobertson_ on Instagram)

Many viewers praised Robertson’s response to the encounter.

One individual said: “You’ve inspired me to learn how to change a tyre just so I can evaporate a patronising man.”

“Love this, why do they think we can’t do normal things?” said another.

Another shared: “I was changing a headlight bulb once and a bloke came over and said I wouldn’t be able to do it and I would need to go to a garage.

“So when I finished changing it I went over and asked if he wanted me to teach him how to change a bulb, all his mates laughed, and he went bright red.”

In a follow-up clip, Elaine showed how to change a tyre. “I’m not a mechanic, I’m just a lass,” she added.

She advises: “You’re meant to loosen the bolts before jacking the car up and tighten them after jacking the car down. Way, way safer.”