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THE number of cars failing emissions tests has more than doubled since new MoT rules came into force last May.

An incredible 744,592 cars have failed since May 20 and have either been taken off the road or fixed, in a bid to improve air quality.

This compares to 350,472 cars failing the emissions test during the same period in 2017.

Poor air quality is the largest environmental risk to public health in the UK.

It’s known to have more severe effects on vulnerable groups, for example, the elderly, children and people who already have pre-existing lung and heart conditions.

The conditions caused or made worse by air pollution include asthma, chronic bronchitis, chronic heart disease and strokes.

Jane Burrows, operating officer at Prestige Motor Warehouse, says the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) are helping improve people’s health.

“Nearly three-quarters of a million cars have been fixed or taken off our roads since the changes in May which can only help improve the air quality for anybody living near busy roads.

“The DVSA is hoping to improve air quality for us all and this is a big step towards that.”

The MOT is an annual check for vehicles more than three years old.

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However, you must keep your vehicle safe to drive (roadworthy) all year round.

Since May 20, 2018, a vehicle gets a “major fault” if the MOT tester can see smoke of any colour coming from the exhaust or if they find evidence that the diesel particulate filter (DPF) has been tampered with (this captures and stores exhaust soot to reduce emissions from diesel cars).

A “major fault” means you need to repair the car immediately, and it then needs to pass an MOT retest.

Since May, a total of 238,971 diesel cars and 505,721 petrol cars have failed the new emissions test.

This compares to 58,004 diesel cars and 292,468 petrol cars during the same period in 2017.

The new test has also seen a 448% increase in the number of diesel vans failing. These have increased from 3,585 in 2017 to 19,648 over the same period in 2018.

In the first six months since the new MOT, almost 16million vehicles have taken the test.

The overall failure rate for petrol cars (34.7%) and diesel cars (33.2%) has remained steady since the changes were introduced.

They were 35.7% and 33.8%, respectively, in 2017.