Diesel emissions scandal could lead to soaring fuel bills

DIESEL drivers face soaring fuel bills as a result of the emissions scandal gripping the car industry.

A mass UK-wide recall of affected cars, would see owners paying around £100 a year extra at the pumps, experts claim.

The cost would come from engines being adjusted to produce less poisonous gas, but making them less efficient in the process.

In total more than 200,000 Volkswagen and Audi cars could be ordered back into workshops across Britain to remove so-called defeat devices which ensure pollution control systems work in laboratory tests, but not on the road.

The industry seemed to be steering towards that catastrophic conclusion last night, as Switzerland announced a temporary ban on diesel engine Volkswagens.

It also emerged VW which sacked its chief executive last week has set aside a whopping £4.8 billion to pay for the crisis.

Much of that could be splurged on the damaging recall, but a large chunk could also possibly be put toward compensating owners.

There is a possibility owners could sue in a mass group, draining millions from the firm which makes reliable household favourites like the Polo, Golf and Passat.

The troubled German manufacturer last week admitted 11 million vehicles had been fitted with devices to falsify emissions tests.

It has since emerged Britain and other European countries may have been warned car-makers were rigging pollution tests four years ago.

And ministers were allegedly given further evidence of dodgy tests a year ago but failed to investigate.

A Government probe was demanded last night following the revelations in the wake of the VW scandal.

A study by the European Commission in 2011 showed that emissions by cars driven on the roads were much higher than in lab tests.

But officials did nothing, despite “defeat device” software being illegal in Europe since 2007.

Shadow Transport Secretary Lilian Greenwood has urged the Department for Transport to come clean over when it first learned about dodgy diesel emissions.

She suggested Cabinet Secretary Jeremy Heywood should set up a Government probe in a bid to reassure Britain’s 11 million diesel car owners.

The Vehicle Certification Agency the UK’s regulatory body is re-running lab tests and comparing them with “real-world” driving emissions

Last night a UK Government spokesman defended the powers-that-be.

“The UK has one of the most aggressive and comprehensive programmes to reduce CO2 from cars anywhere in the world, backed by £500m in investment. The UK is a global leader in the move to low carbon transport,” he said.

After the scandal came to light German executives frantically moved to reassure customers, while shoring up their plummeting share price.

Porsche boss Matthias Mueller was parachuted into the top seat at the crisis hit firm, just two days after the resignation of chief executive Martin Winterkorn.

Around £11 billion was wiped from VW’s share price after the scandal broke.