Consumers and motoring organisations have become increasingly concerned that published fuel economy figures provided to consumers are misleading.

European officials have confirmed that by 2014 they will be changing the tests used to produce fuel- economy figures, which have become a crucial selling point as petrol prices have soared.

Figures produced by consumer and motoring analysts have revealed the true miles per gallon (mpg) of cars sold in Britain can be as much as 36% less than indicated.

One Scots consumer who calculated his new Vauxhall Antara was producing just 29.6mpg against a published average of 46.3mpg won a fight with parent company General Motors for a full refund plus costs.

The European Commission has confirmed it is now supporting the implementation of a new driving test-cycle and test procedure to measure fuel consumption and emissions from cars and vans in a way that is "more representative of real-world driving".