New diesel and petrol cars and vans will be banned from 2040 as part of efforts to tackle air pollution, the Government is expected to announce.

A £255m fund is expected to be unveiled to help councils speed up local measures to deal with pollution from diesel vehicles, as part of £3bn in spending on air quality.

Yet critics said the 2040 ban was "too little too late", with the Liberal Democrats calling for new diesel sales to end by 2025.

Meanwhile former Labour leader and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the move was a "smokescreen" hiding a lack of immediate action to reduce emissions.

Fear that new car petrol/diesel ban in 23 years time is smokescreen for weak measures to tackle 40,000 deaths a year from air pollution now. — Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) July 25, 2017

The Government is set to include the 2040 ban in a court-mandated clean air strategy due to be published on Wednesday, just days before the deadline set by the High Court.

The expected move to ban petrol and diesel vans and cars follows similar plans announced in France this month and amid increasing signs that the shift to electric vehicles is accelerating.

On Tuesday, BMW announced plans for an electric Mini to be assembled at its Oxford plant while earlier this month Volvo unveiled its moves towards cleaner cars.

The Government was ordered to produce new plans to tackle illegal levels of harmful pollutant nitrogen dioxide after the courts agreed with environmental campaigners that a previous set of plans were insufficient to meet EU pollution limits.

Despite government efforts to delay publication of the plans until after the general election, ministers were forced to set out the draft plans in May, with the final measures due by July 31.

It is thought ministers will also consult on a diesel scrappage scheme to take the dirtiest vehicles off the road.

Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas said the scrappage scheme was needed immediately to reduce emissions.

Welcome start but need urgent plan to cut air pollution *now* - proper clean air zones, funded diesel scrappage, invest in public transport https://t.co/Cr4iIBvOWJ — Caroline Lucas (@CarolineLucas) July 25, 2017

Campaigners have demanded the final plans should include government-funded and mandated clean air zones, with charges for the most polluting vehicles to enter areas with high air pollution, as well as a diesel scrappage scheme.

Their calls for charging zones were backed up by an assessment published alongside the draft plans which suggested they were the most effective measures to tackle nitrogen dioxide, much of which comes from diesel vehicles.

But ministers have been wary of being seen to "punish" drivers of diesel cars, who they claim bought the vehicles in good faith after being encouraged to by the last Labour government on the basis they produced lower carbon emissions.

They favour local measures such as retrofitting buses and other transport to make them cleaner, changing road layouts and even altering features such as speed humps and re-programming traffic lights to make traffic flow more smoothly to reduce pollution.

The expected move to ban diesel and petrol cars and vans by 2040 comes after similar plans were announced in France this month and amid increasing signs that the shift to electric vehicles is accelerating, with BMW announcing plans for an electric Mini and Volvo unveiling its moves towards cleaner cars.

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Air pollution is linked to around 40,000 premature deaths a year in the UK, and transport also makes up a significant share of greenhouse gas emissions.

A Government spokesman said: "Poor air quality is the biggest environmental risk to public health in the UK and this government is determined to take strong action in the shortest time possible.

"That is why we are providing councils with new funding to accelerate development of local plans, as part of an ambitious £3bn programme to clean up dirty air around our roads.

"Our plan to deal with dirty diesels will help councils clean up emissions hotspots – often a single road – through common sense measures which do not unfairly penalise ordinary working people.

"Diesel drivers are not to blame and, to help them switch to cleaner vehicles, the Government will consult on a targeted scrappage scheme, one of a number of measures to support motorists affected by local plans."

UK news in pictures







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1/65 26 July 2017 UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson gestures while posing for a photograph at the Sydney Opera House, in Sydney. Johnson is there to attend AUKMIN, the annual meeting of UK and Australian Foreign and Defence Ministers. Dan Himbrechts

2/65 25 July 2017 Britain Prime Minister Theresa May walks with her husband Philip in Desenzano del Garda, by the Garda lake, as they holiday in northern Italy Antonio Calanni/AFP

3/65 23 July 2017 England team players pose after winning the ICC Women's World Cup cricket final between England and India at Lord's cricket ground in London Adrian Dennis/AFP

4/65 23 July 2017 Rajeshwari Gayakwad of India attempts to run out Jenny Gunn of England during the ICC Women's World Cup 2017 Final between England and India at Lord's Cricket Ground in London Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

5/65 22 July 2017 Chris Froome, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, celebrates on the podium after the twentieth stage of the Tour de France cycling race, an individual time trial over 22.5 kilometers (14 miles) with start and finish in Marseille, France. AP

6/65 22 July 2017 Competitors take part in the swim stage during the AJ Bell London Triathlon 2017 at Royal Victoria Docks in London, England. The 21st annual AJ Bell Triathlon sees 13000 competitors take part in the world's largest triathlon. Getty Images

7/65 21 July 2017 Environment Secretary Michael Gove looks at screens in the information pod in the forest zone at the WWF Living Planet Centre in Woking, after he told an audience of environmental and countryside organisations that Brexit gives scope for Britain to be a global leader in green policy PA

8/65 21 July 2017 Screen grabbed image taken from video issued by NATS showing air traffic over the UK yesterday at 12:15pm, with red representing departures, yellow arrivals, purple domestic and blue overflights. Air traffic controllers are dealing with the busiest day in the UK's aviation history. A total of 8,800 planes are to be handled by controllers across the country over 24 hours, at the start of a summer season which is due to see a record 770,000 flights in UK airspace - 40,000 more than last year PA

9/65 20 July 2017 Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon shows off his cufflinks after cutting steel on the first Type 26 frigate at BAE System's Govan Shipyard near Glasgow. PA

10/65 20 July 2017 Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson looks at a bipedal humanoid robot Wabian2 at Research Institute for Science and Engineering at Waseda University's Kikuicho Campus in Tokyo Reuters/Eugene Hoshiko/Pool

11/65 19 July 2017 A damaged road in Coverack, Cornwall, after intense rain caused flash flooding in the coastal village. PA

12/65 19 July 2017 Prince George holds hands with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as they leave Warsaw PA

13/65 18 July 2017 Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during her visit to the site of Aberdeen Harbour's expansion into Nigg Bay Getty Images

14/65 18 July 2017 Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson arrives at Downing Street for the weekly cabinet meeting Getty Images

15/65 17 July 2017 Daniel Goodfellow and Tom Daley of Great Britain compete during the Men's Diving 10M Synchro Platform, preliminary round on day four of the Budapest 2017 FINA World Championships on July 17, 2017 in Budapest, Hungary Getty Images

16/65 17 July 2017 Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson speaks to the press upon his arrival at the European Council for the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels Aurore Belot/AFP/Getty Images

17/65 16 July 2017 Switzerland's Roger Federer holds aloft the winner's trophy after beating Croatia's Marin Cilic in their men's singles final match, during the presentation on the last day of the 2017 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London. Roger Federer won 6-3, 6-1, 6-4. AFP/Getty Images

18/65 15 July 2017 Garbine Muguruza of Spain celebrates victory with the trophy after the Ladies Singles final against Venus Williams of The United States on day twelve of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club at Wimbledon. Getty

19/65 14 July 2017 The hearse departs St Joseph's Church after the funeral service for six year old Sunderland FC fan, Bradley Lowery on in Hartlepool, England. Bradley was diagnosed with neuroblastoma aged only 18 months. Hundreds of people lined the streets to pay their respects to the Sunderland football supporter who lost his battle with cancer last Friday. Getty Images

20/65 13 July 2017 The EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, right, receives an Arsenal football top from Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn prior to a meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels Olivier Hoslet/AP

21/65 13 July 2017 A blue whale skeleton forms the main exhibit at the Natural History Museum in London. The 126-year-old skeleton, named 'Hope', replaces 'Dippy' the Diplodocus dinosaur as the museum's main exhibit Rob Stothard/Getty Images

22/65 13 July 2017 Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh are welcomed to New Scotland Yard by Metropolitan Police commissioner Cressida Dick and Metropolitan Police Acting Commissioner, Craig Mackey Getty Images

23/65 12 July 2017 Carlos Sainz of Spain and Scuderia Toro Rosso driving the Scuderia Toro Rosso STR8 during F1 Live London at Trafalgar Square in London Mark Thompson/Getty Images

24/65 12 July 2017 Orange Order members march past Ardoyne shops on the Crumlin Road in Belfast as part of the 'Twelfth of July' celebrations. The controversial flashpoint has seen many outbreaks of serious public disorder in the past due to contentious parades Niall Carson/PA

25/65 11 July 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May gets up from her seat to deliver a speech on modern working practices at the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) in London Matt Dunham/AFP/Getty Images

26/65 11 July 2017 Cunard cruise liner Queen Elizabeth makes her way into the mouth of the River Mersey on her way to Liverpool past Antony Gormley's art installation 'Another Place' at Crosby, north west England Paul Ellis/AFP

27/65 11 July 2017 Two fisherman gather fishing pots from the North sea near Whitley Bay with storm clouds overhead as rain is expected across many parts of the UK. PA

28/65 10 July 2017 Supporters of Charlie Gard hold up placards outside the High Court in central London Ben Stansal/AFP

29/65 10 July 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves after a visit to Borough Market with Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull (not pictured) in central London Niklas Hallen/AFP/Getty

30/65 10 July 2017 A Loyalist climbs the Conway street bonfire built in preparation for the 11th night bonfire on July 10, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Tradition holds that the bonfires commemorate the lighting of fires on the hills to help Williamite ships navigate through Belfast Lough at night when Protestant King William III and his forces landed at Carrickfergus to fight the Catholic Jacobites, supporters of the exiled Catholic King James II. The bonfires also mark the beginning of the annual 12th of July Orange parades. Jeff J Mitchell/Getty

31/65 10 July 2017 A firefighter walks towards the scene of a fire at Camden Market in north London Reuters/Hannah McKay

32/65 9 July 2017 Buttermere in the Lake District in Cumbria, as the Lake District has been designated as a World Heritage Site, Unesco has said PA

33/65 8 July 2017 Jeremy Corbyn leader of the Labour Party stands in the balcony of the County Hotel as colliery bands pass below during the 133rd Durham Miners Gala Getty

34/65 7 July 2017 Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip John May arrive for a concert at the Elbphilharmonie concert hall during the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany AFP/Getty Images

35/65 7 July 2017 Spectators react on Henman Hill (Murray Mount) as Britain's Andy Murray wins against Italy's Fabio Fognini on the big screen at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London AFP/Getty Images

36/65 6 July 2017 Britain's Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (Brexit Minister) David Davis (R) meets Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney for talks at no 11, Downing Street VICTORIA JONES/AFP/Getty Images

37/65 6 July 2017 Revellers brave the heat at Wimbledon Getty

38/65 5 July 2017 Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaking after being awarded an honorary degree at the University of Edinburgh in Edinburgh AFP/Getty

39/65 5 July 2017 Spectators are led in on day three of the Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club PA

40/65 4 July 2017 Queen Elizabeth II talks with Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during an audience at the Palace of Holyroodhouse PA

41/65 4 July 2017 Conservative MP Craig Mackinlay, with his wife Kati Mackinlay, leave Westminster Magistrates' Court in London where he faced charges over his 2015 general election expenses PA

42/65 3 July 2017 Security staff with dogs before the start of play at Wimbledon Reuters

43/65 2 July 2017 Competitors take part in the first ever Ironman triathlon to be held in Scotland. Almost 2000 competitors took part in the grueling swim, cycle and road race which ended in Holyrood park. The swimming section was held at Preston Links in Prestonpans. PA

44/65 1 July 2017 People hold placards reading 'Wot A DisMay' and 'Not One Day More' as they take part in an anti-austerity demonstration outside Parliament in London, Britain. Tens of thousands of people took part in a demonstration against British Government and called to end austerity, further cuts and privatisation. EPA

45/65 30 June 2017 A screen displaying an image of Martyn Hett outside Stockport Town Hall as mourners arrive for his funeral on June 30, 2017 in Stockport, England. Twenty-nine year old Martyn Hett was one of 22 people who died in the suicide bombing at Manchester Arena after attending an Ariana Grande concert Getty Images

46/65 29 June 2017 Campaigners from Avaaz dressed as British Prime Minister Theresa May and Australian media Mogul Rupert Murdoch pose during a photocall outside the Houses of Parliament on Campaigners from Avaaz dressed as British Prime Minister Theresa May and Australian media Mogul Rupert Murdoch pose during a photocall outside the Houses of Parliament on June 29, 2017 in London, England. Culture Secretary Karen Bradley announced that the Competitions and Markets Authority is to conduct a further six-month investigation into Murdoch’s proposed £11.7bn takeover of Sky. Getty Images

47/65 27 June 2017 Workers using safety harnesses abseil off Bray Tower on the Chacots Estate in North London. The abseilers were taking measurements and taking notes as they scaled the building. The high-rise Tower blocks in Camden are still in the process of evacuation with some tenants refusing to leave after the cladding on the buildings was discovered to be similar to that found on the fire stricken Grenfell Tower Pete Maclaine / i-Images

48/65 27 June 2017 Workmen start to remove cladding on Hornchurch Court, Hulme, Manchester as as Prime Minister Theresa May has said there must be a "major national investigation" into the use of potentially flammable cladding on high-rise towers across the country over a period of decades in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire PA

49/65 26 June 2017 A festival-goer sleeps outside their tent at the end of the Glastonbury Festival of Music and Performing Arts on Worthy Farm near the village of Pilton in Somerset, South West England Getty

50/65 26 June 2017 Residents leave their home on the Taplow Block on the Chalcots Estate on June 26, 2017 in London, England. Residents of the Chalcots Estate have been urged to leave their homes due to fire safety fears in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Four of the five Chalcots Estate towers in Camden, North London, are being evacuated after they were found to have similar cladding to that on Grenfell, attributed to contributing to the rapid spread of the blaze last week that killed at least 79 people Getty Images

51/65 25 June 2017 Police officers on Romford Road in Forest Gate, east London, as people protest over the death of Edir Frederico Da Costa, who died on June 21 six days after he was stopped in a car by Metropolitan Police officers in Woodcocks, Beckton, in Newham, east London PA

52/65 24 June 2017 Britain's opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn addresses revellers from the Pyramid Stage at Worthy Farm in Somerset during the Glastonbury Festival REUTERS

53/65 23 June 2017 British Prime Minister Theresa May addresses a news conference at the EU summit in Brussels, Belgium, June 23, 2017 Reuters

54/65 22 June 2017 Cosplay fans (L-R) George Massingham, Abbey Forbes and Karolina Goralik travel by tube dressed in Harry Potter themed costumes, after a visit to one the literary franchise's movie filming locations at Leadenhall Market in London, Britain Reuters

55/65 22 June 2017 Racegoers cheer on their horse on Ladies Day at the Royal Ascot horse racing meet, in Ascot, west of London Getty

56/65 21 June 2017 A reveller walks among the tipi tents at the Glastonbury Festival of Music and Performing Arts on Worthy Farm near the village of Pilton in Somerset, South West England Getty

57/65 20 June 2017 A police officer lays some flowers passed over by a member of the public, close to Finsbury Park Mosque in north London, after one man died and eight people were taken to hospital and a person arrested after a rental van struck pedestrian PA

58/65 The Borough Market bell is seen in Borough Market in central London following its re-opening after the June 3 terror attack Getty Images

59/65 Two women embrace in Borough Market, which officially re-opens today following the recent attack, in central London REUTERS/Hannah McKay

60/65 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan attends the re-opening of Borough market in central London following the June 3 terror attack Getty Images

61/65 People walk through Borough Market in central London following its re-opening after the June 3 terror attack Getty Images

62/65 News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch, with one of his daughters, visit Borough Market, which officially re-opened today following the recent attack REUTERS

63/65 A woman reacts in front of a wall of messages in Borough Market, which officially re-opened today following the recent attack, in central London REUTERS/Hannah Mckay

64/65 Vivenne Westwood walks the runway at the Vivenne Westwood show during the London Fashion Week Men's June 2017 collections Getty Images

65/65 11 June 2017 England players celebrate after defeating Venezuela 1-0 to win the final of the FIFA U-20 World Cup Korea 2017 at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, South Korea AP

Liberal Democrat transport spokeswoman Jenny Randerson said: "By scrapping the scrappage scheme the government have U-turned on their offer a life line to the millions of owners of diesel cars up and down the country. This is a betrayal to drivers everywhere.

"Air pollution is poisoning our children and leading to causing avoidable deaths across the country.

"Instead of properly fighting this silent killer the government has flip-flopped, offering tax breaks for cars that they are now banning. The Government's feeble attempts to tackle air pollution are too little too late.

"The Government needs to take drastic action to end this public health crisis, every moment they sit on their hands more people are breathing in and dying from polluted air.

"The Liberal Democrats have called for all new diesel sales to end by 2025 and a scrappage scheme to help drivers convert to greener vehicles. We are serious about fighting air pollution, this Government is not."

Additional reporting by agencies