[allycat]

Thanks for all the comments. I decided to go ahead and swap them front to back. Rather than faff about with the spare I phoned quickfit and asked them how much they would charge. They quoted me £20 to rotate them and to balance them as well. I took it down this morning and they did it in about 15 minutes.

They took the rears off and put them on the balancing machine before putting them on the front axle. They did not put the fronts on the machine before putting them on the back axle.

Then the mechanic said I could take the car out. I did so assuming they wanted the space, and then went back in to pay. He looked very surprised when I reappeared. I asked how much I needed to pay and he said nothing - it was free since they did not need to rebalance the wheels as the machine showed they were already balanced !

Now I would assume the cost of £20 was to cover the labour and the check on the balancing machine and any weights they needed to add, but they seemed to think that since they did not need to add or change any weights then it was free.

Can't say fffffff, ffffff, fairer than that can you ?

Thanks for the advice.