The findings have been put forward in a Parliament select committee in a new report on air quality that says the Government “must act now to tackle this public health emergency”.

The report by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA) says that: “Poor air quality is damaging the UK’s environment and harming the nation’s health: emissions have declined significantly over many decades, but not far enough to prevent the early deaths of 40-50,000 people each year from cardiac, respiratory and other diseases linked to air pollution.

It also calls into question the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra's) action on air quality and says there’s been an “absence of effective new measures” and “insufficient local powers”.

In particular, the report calls for clean air zones, which charge vehicles for access during certain times, across dozens of areas in addition to those pinpointed by the Government. It also says the Government must also devolve to councils greater flexibility over how they can use powers over traffic movement and new development and provide them with adequate funding to take the best action for their communities, inside and outside the Zones.

Following the VW saga, the report adds that the Government “must ensure that vehicle company marketing claims are fully accurate and must work with the EU to establish tougher standards that cut vehicle emissions on the road”.

And the report also says that government incentives are needed now to establish a self-sustaining low-emissions vehicle market, adding: “Funding for new refuelling infrastructure and grants to help buy cleaner vehicles is welcome but currently insufficient to get polluting diesel vehicles off the road quickly. The Government should develop proposals now so that at the next Budget it can introduce a scheme to give those scrapping diesel vehicles over about 10 years old a discount on buying an ultra-low emissions vehicle.”

In response to the report, Gerry Keaney, chief executive of the UK's BVRLA, said: “Fleets need consistency, but a blanket ban of all diesel vehicles in city centres would be damaging to businesses – Defra must take a carrot-and-stick approach if it wants to drive the uptake of the least polluting vehicles, and bring the UK into compliance with EU air quality targets. The Committee rightfully recognises that Government incentives are needed to establish a self-sustaining low-emissions vehicle market. The BVRLA has repeatedly asked for in-life incentives that would benefit drivers of ultra-low emission vehicles, but the Government has failed to act.”