The sale of petrol and diesel cars will be banned five years earlier than planned, under a climate change drive to be unveiled by Boris Johnson.

The Government announced in 2017 that it would impose a ban on diesel and petrol cars from 2040 as part of an effort to tackle air pollution.

However the Prime Minister is said to be speeding up the plans with a view to implementing the ban by 2035.

The idea was first mooted by Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, in October last year, when he indicated that 2035 was a target he would like to aim for.

“The government’s own advisory committee on climate change said 2035 is a date for which we should aim,” he told the Conservative Party conference.

“We need to test these arguments and work in partnership with industry to examine how to proceed.”

A joint committee report in 2018 criticised the 2040 target as lacking “sufficient ambition” and urged for it to be brought forward.