W203 footbrake clunk

[Kaz073]

Using the footbrake after driving a good distance produces a quite a pronounced clunk. The action is not smooth. I'm also getting a lot of squealing noise when driving, as if there's an issue with the brakes. Possible link? Didn’t have any advisory on last MOT regarding brakes.
Any help, appreciated.

 

[brandwooddixon]

Definitely something wrong.
Was this present prior to the MOT?

If you mean the parking brake then I would say that the mechanism has seized or something has come adrift, likely to be one side rather than both.

It's possible that the retaining pin for a shoe has come adrift, possibly due to corrosion, so that a shoe is not sitting square and is the cause of the squeal as it is rubbing and yet when the brake is applied there is sufficient force to pass the test. Chocking the wheels, putting the gearbox in neutral, releasing the parking brake, jacking the car up and rotating the rear wheels by hand may be sufficient to tell which side is causing the issue.

I've heard of the parking brake cable coming loose and rubbing on the prop shaft, but I don't think that would create a squeal.

In any case I would get the brakes checked out just to be safe.