UK Diesel Clunker Scrappage Proposed

A scheme should be set up to allow diesel car owners to trade in old models for cash, the chairman of an influential House of Commons committee said.

MP Neil Parish is expected to suggest the idea in the House of Commons next week to tackle harmful emissions, Sky News reported.

There are some 11.2 million diesel cars on Britain's roads. The oldest, most polluting vehicles produce 15% of all harmful emissions.

However, Parish will argue that a half-a-billion pound scrappage scheme on 2005 and older models could take nearly 10% of the five million dirtiest diesel vehicles off the roads.

He said: "My scheme is a combination of both postcode and also perhaps linked to income as well, as what you don't want to do is just take everybody's older diesel cars off of the road if many of those people could have afforded to do it themselves without the taxpayer's expense.

"We're looking at whether [diesel cars] could be traded in for an electric car, a hybrid car or possibly even travel vouchers in order to use public transport.

"The government should be putting aside around £50 million–£100 million for this sort of targeted scrappage scheme."