Mayor urges Volkswagen compensate TfL £2.5m over emissions scandal

The Mayor of London has written to Volkswagen urging it to "fully compensate" residents affected by the emissions scandal.

Sadiq Khan wants the firm to reimburse Transport for London £2.5 million in lost congestion charge revenue.

He says he will use the money – for vehicles that were unknown to be contributing to the capital’s pollution at the time – to fund a new schools air quality programme.

It emerged last year that 11 million Volkswagen-built cars worldwide were fitted with software which detected when the vehicles were undergoing official emissions testing and switched the engines to a cleaner mode.

It is estimated the equivalent of up to 9,400 deaths occur each year in London because of illnesses caused by long-term exposure to air pollution, with 448 schools in the capital in areas exceeding legal air quality levels.