TOXIN TAX PLANS PUTTING DRIVERS OFF DIESEL CARS

Two thirds of diesel car owners are considering dumping their vehicles rather than be hit with proposed “toxin taxes”.

As part of a clampdown on pollution, diesel motorists will be forced to cough up £24- a-day within London’s North and South circulars from April 2019, while across the country, drivers could be slapped with a £20 fee in built-up areas under “clean air zone” plans from environment secretary Andrea Leadsom.

In a survey by National.co.uk, 15 percent of diesel owners said the staggering extra costs mean they would definitely get rid of their existing motor, while 50 per cent said they were considering it.

Interestingly, over a quarter (27 per cent) of owners plan to replace their diesel with either a hybrid or electric car. currently, alternatively fueled vehicles only make up 4.1 per cent of UK car sales.

Almost half (49 per cent) of people considering keeping their car, said they would not ditch their diesel because they couldn’t afford to buy a new vehicle, while a third (36 per cent) claimed they’d be unaffected by the new charges. The same number said replacing the car would be more expensive than the cost of the tax.

The announcement is also a blow for 69 per cent of those who bought their diesel vehicle because they thought they would be much cheaper to run, and one in five who thought their car was a good choice for the environment.

When he was labour chancellor,former prime minister gordon Brown introduced a lower vehicle tax in 2001 to encourage people to buy diesel cars, as they were believed to be less harmful in terms of carbon dioxide emissions. 17 per cent of those surveyed said they bought their vehicle following this advice.

Now however, the Government aims to rid Britain’s roads of diesel vehicles by 2030. The Royal college of physicians and of Paediatrics and Child Health say that 40,000 deaths a year are linked to air pollution in the UK with diesel soot particles and nitrogen dioxide highlighted as contributing factors.

James Kelly, marketing manager at National.co.uk said: “It’s interesting to see the number of people who would be interested in purchasing a hybrid or electric vehicle to avoid the tax, as well as to reduce emissions in the environment.”

Conservative chairman of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Neil Parish, has proposed a new scrappage scheme to help affected motorists and prime minister theresa May signal ed earlier this month that help may be on hand for diesel drivers.

The scheme is yet to be officially announced but is expected before the end of the second quarter of 2017. affected drivers could receive a £2,000 discount on a new vehicle.

A similar scheme, introduced in france in 2015, was hailed as a success and saw drivers receive €3,700 for trading in a diesel car more than 13 years old against the cost of an electric vehicle .