Failed inspection on shocker

They actually look like h e l l my buddy I would get those swapped out even some eBay cheapies I think even some mid-range now come painted with extra special paint that doesn't corrode like that for a long time they'll stay black You can even get single rate springs which seem to do a lot better on my car which is slightly lifted so my old rear end can get in and out better has nothing to do with off-roading generally speaking I do off-road but for work and not rock crawling and specialty sporting nonsense. But they look really bad been a long time since I've been in the UK to see that kind of surface rust and what have you but on that last picture the inside looks like that shock is blown up all over the piston and all of it so I would say a new set would greatly improve your ride especially while you're doing it do the lower ball joints up front maybe the front wheel bearings while you have all that apart it's very fast to do and it'll make your car seemingly handle and drive forward like new again I would hope you can get the parts as cheap as we can here in the States

 

Why so much rust? Leeds is far from the coast, so it isn't from ocean salt. Do they put down a lot of salt on the roads in that area?

 

Looks wet, meaning it's been leaking.

Struts and shocks are much better judged by road manners and a physical bounce test, but these pictures suggest that you should replace at least one, and you always want to replace these in pairs. At a minimum you need two new front struts.