Nearly three million diesel car drivers will be hit with new "green taxes" from next year under new measures to phase out the vehicles in yesterday's Budget.

The new higher taxes will affect around 800,000 drivers of diesel company cars and 2 million buyers of new diesel cars from April next year, the Treasury said.

It is an extension of the Government's plan to improve air quality by discouraging people from buying diesel cars which pollute the air with harmful fumes.

Drivers who choose to buy new diesel cars which do not meet the latest emissions standards will be charged a one-off levy through being forced into a higher vehicle exercise duty band.

Under the change the VED rate they pay in the first year after purchase will be calculated as if they were in the VED band above. It means they will pay an extra one-off amount which is anywhere between £10 and £500 more than they would owe under the current system.

So, for example, someone buying a Ford Fiesta today will pay £120 VED in their first year, but if they bought it in April 2018 they would pay £140.

The Treasury estimates that the move will affect around 2 million drivers over the next five years, lining its coffers with around £125m in the first year, with revenues falling in later years as people buy fewer polluting diesels.