The safest used buy

Volvo’s V40 has been rated the safest used car bought by families in the UK.

It has won the Co-op Safe Used Car 2016 title, awarded in conjunction with safety experts Thatcham Research.

Co-op Insurance awarded the trophy to the Volvo V40 with Driver Support Pack, which beat strong competition from the Volkswagen Golf and Nissan Qashqai to claim the crown.

In order to be in the running for the award – which is the first to recognise safety in the UK used car market – all the cars had to have a five-star Euro NCAP crash test rating, CO2 emissions of 120g/km or lower and be available to buy on the second-hand market for £15,000 or less.

The cars were then evaluated further on their crash worthiness, which included ratings for adult, child and pedestrian protection.