The head of VW cars in the UK has apologised "unreservedly" for "significantly" letting down its customers in the diesel emissions scandal.
It comes days after the American boss of VW made a 'sincere apology' over the scandal which has affected more than 11 million cars worldwide.
The boss of VW in Britain has said they could not have reacted any faster in response to diesel emissions scandal that has rocked the car-markers.
More than 1,000 cars fitted with pollution test-cheating software were sold in the UK after it emerged that this country was also affected by the issue.
Speaking to a committee of MPs, UK managing director Paul Willis said he halted sales of affected cars within hours of establishing which make and models were affected and could not have acted any faster.
"I couldn't stop selling cars if I didn't know which cars were affected," he told MPs - saying he received those details on September 30, eight days after it emerged Europe was affected and two days after he told the Government sales would stop when they could.
"There were eight days between when we first knew it affected Europe until I stopped selling cars and the reason for that is the complexity of the number of cars involved.
"There are 60 different models, there are five different brands, there are three different engines and two different transmissions.
"I found the VIN numbers out precisely at 9am and at 1:30pm, once I had clarified it with the computer systems, I stopped selling the cars voluntarily."
Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin told the committee that VW "have behaved in an appalling way" during the global scandal.
Volvo withdrew an app comparing cars' emissions in 2011, after being told by that the data "could not be taken seriously".
Volkswagen's US boss has admitted he was told in spring last year of the emissions cheating affecting millions of the company's vehicles.
Volkswagen could start recalling cars containing emissions cheating software in January, according to the firm's new chief executive.