The UK government is considering implementing a diesel scrappage scheme later this year in order to reduce the number of high-polluting vehicles on Britain’s roads.

According to reports in the Telegraph, officials in the Department for Transport and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs are considering offering a cashback payment or money off low-emission vehicles in exchange for buyers’ older, high-polluting diesel vehicles.

The Telegraph said talks are under way with the Treasury, which would provide finance for the scheme. The plan could focus on the worst-polluted areas of Britain and begin in a matter of months.

Transport secretary Chris Grayling highlighted the urgency required with the UK’s pollution problem when addressing the House of Commons. He said: "We have to find the right way to migrate the nature of the cars on our roads to a point where they cause much less of a pollution problem than they do at the moment."

The news comes just days after Westminster City Council announced an increase in parking charges for diesel vehicles in a bid to cut nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions in the Greater London borough. High levels of NO2 increase the risk of respiratory problems in humans and are said to increase the risk of cancer.

London is among the UK’s most polluted cities, with Brixton Road in the capital’s south breaching its annual limit for NO2 just five days into 2017, beating the previous year’s breach, which came after one week in Putney.