Last week's poll: What is the solution to the diesel problem?

Sales of diesel engine cars have plummeted in Britain (down 29.6% so far this year) and the latest revelations from Which? will do little to restore consumer confidence in a technology that those in the automotive industry insist is far cleaner than many imagine.

Which? published a report on 61 modern diesel cars it has tested since 2017 and found that in real-world conditions 47 of them exceeded the Euro 6 limit of 0.08g/km of NOx despite claiming to conform to industry standards. As reported last week, on average the cars tested produced 0.27g/km of NOx, which is nearly three and a half times the existing official Euro 6 limit.

Certain BMW and Mercedes diesel models were found to emit between 0.014 and 0.031g/km, indicating that technology for ‘clean’ diesel exists but is not making its way into most vehicles, or isn’t being integrated correctly.

Volkswagen’s UK HQ was then targeted by Greenpeace where activists and medical professionals blockaded the front of the building and set up a diesel pollution clinic in light of the growing body of evidence linking air pollution to respiratory problems.