Diesel owners driving illegally without exhaust filters, investigation finds

Thousands of UK drivers are on the road without diesel exhaust filters, according to the DVSA.

As reported by The Telegraph, the filters are prone to breaking easily and because of high repair costs, drivers have opted to have them removed.

The procedure to remove the filter is legal and costs only a few hundred pounds, but driving the modified vehicle is illegal and any vehicle found with a modified filter will be subject to a fine of £1,000 for a car or £2,500 for a van.

The DVSA found that 1,800 diesel cars in the UK currently do not have this filter, which is a legal requirement.

Following this, the DVSA plans to bring in changes to emission tests so that it can be easily detected if a particulate filter has been tampered with.

However, these tests are not due to be rolled out until next May.