London mayor Sadiq Khan demands compensation over 'dieselgate'

The Mayor of London is demanding that Volkswagen pays £2.5m of "lost" Congestion Charge revenue after the "dieselgate" emissions scandal.

It emerged last year that VW had been fitting software that enabled vehicles to detect when they were being tested, reducing emissions measured in the laboratory.

It is estimated that 80,000 VWs registered in London were fitted with the so-called "defeat device", which hid the true level of emissions.

Because car owners were claiming Congestion Charge discounts they were not entitled to, revenue was lost.

In a letter to the car giant, Sadiq Khan said: "There is no excuse for the utter lack of action VW has taken in London since the 'dieselgate' scandal came to light.

"I want to see a proper commitment from them to fully compensate the thousands of Londoners who bought VW cars in good faith, but whose diesel engines are now contributing to London's killer air.

"I also urge them to reimburse TfL (Transport for London) the £2.5m lost in Congestion Charge revenue, which I will use to fund a new schools air quality programme that will reduce the exposure and raise the awareness of schoolchildren in London attending schools in the most polluted areas."

The car firm told The Sunday Times: "Volkswagen products perform well in independent real world emissions testing against new cars in general.

"It is therefore difficult to understand why our products might be singled out for pollution penalties."

VW announced on Friday that it was cutting its workforce by 30,000 over the next five years to reduce costs following the scandal.

It has set aside €18bn (£15.4bn), pledging to fix all vehicles affected in Europe by autumn next year .

It is estimated that more than 9,000 people die in London each year because of conditions linked to air pollution.

There are 448 schools in areas of the capital where legal air quality levels have been exceeded.