Nissan is cutting hundreds of jobs at its Sunderland plant amid plummeting demand for diesel cars after an emissions scandal.

The Japanese vehicle manufacturer said the cuts were not related to Brexit.

It comes just days after Jaguar Land Rover cut 1,000 agency staff jobs, blaming continued difficult trading conditions in the car market.

A spokesperson for Nissan said: “As previously communicated, we are transitioning to a new range of powertrains over the next year.

“As we make the operational changes required to support this, we will be managing a planned short-term reduction in powertrain supply and plant volumes at NMUK in line with our 2018 business plan.

“We are now discussing these operational changes with our employees.”

Sales of diesel cars fell 37 per cent in March, compared to a year earlier amid confusion about their environmental impact.

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In the November Budget, the chancellor, Philip Hammond, announced a tax on new diesel vehicles that fail to meet new emissions standards.

It emerged in 2015 that Volkswagen had been cheating on emissions tests and its cars were more polluting than had been claimed.