Brake Fault : Workshop! in Maxidot display / Brake light flashing in display & audio alarm

Was sitting in the car on a cold winter's night at my son's training and the radio went quiet and 'Brake Fault : Workshop!' flashed up in the Maxidot display along with an audio warning which beeped three times. The message then went away but the brake light kept flashing in the display.

Turned off the ignition, left the car for a moment, then got back in turned the key in the ignition, same error message, I did not try to fully turn the key in the ignition at this point.

Repeated the process once more just to rule out a random issue, the third time I tried turning the key fully in the ignition.

The car wouldn't start, oddly the rear windscreen wiper activated and did one screen wipe before stopping.

Rang the insurance for a tow truck to arrive.

The driver attached jump leads, left the car running for 10 minutes, revving every now and again and I was back on the road again, slightly chilled but relieved that it wasn't something serious.

How to avoid the same happening to you, reduce the number of things draining the battery when the car is stationary, without the engine on.

I was told by the tow truck driver that having the fan on, with the radio and if day time running lights are on the car and switched on that this, with the key half turned in the ignition will drain the battery.

So lesson learned, by the way this happens on all models of cars according to my tow truck driver, I would trust him as it accounts for a large percentage of his call outs.

One woman had just bought her car new and couldn't believe it that it wouldn't start.