SCOTTISH car owners have been urged not to panic after it emerged that nearly one in 10 diesel vehicles in the UK is fitted with the software that caused the Volkswagen emissions scandal.

The German car-maker said it would contact the owners to arrange for their cars to be "corrected" after confirming that nearly 1.2 million UK models - including Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Seat and VW commercial vehicles - are affected.

In a statement, VW said: “Step by step, affected customers will be contacted, with details of a process to get their vehicles corrected in the near future. In the meantime, all vehicles are technically safe and roadworthy."

VW is the third-bestselling new car brand in Scotland with an eight per cent share of the market in 2015, followed by VW subsidiary brand Audi with a six per cent share.

In 2014, more than 41,300 brand new Volkswagen, Audi, Seat and Skoda cars were registered in Scotland.

Sandy Burgess, chief executive of the Scottish Motor Trade Association (SMTA), said the situation will cause concern to motorists who drive the affected brands, but stressed that the car industry was well-prepared to manage the crisis.

Mr Burgess said: "The reworking requirements for this particular issue are not safety-related and as such there is no need for concern as to the use of the vehicle.

"The industry is well versed in dealing with recalls of this nature and scale and as such will mobilise itself to ensure a speedy and efficient solution is available as quickly as possible.

"Those SMTA members who represent the VW Group franchise brands have staff trained to factory standards to ensure events such as these are dealt with both professionally and proficiently.

"VW are working to put an information portal in place to allow owners to self check if they do indeed have an affected vehicle.

"I am confident that whilst an inconvenience to many VW will ensure that the impact of this situation is managed with the maximum consideration to their customers for the future."

VW confirmed that 508,276 Volkswagen cars, 393,450 Audis, 131,569 Skodas, 79,838 VW commercial vehicles and 76,773 Seats are fitted with the emissions cheating software.

The Wolfsburg-based company insisted its vehicles - which have EA 189 engines fitted from around 2009 to this year - are ''technically safe and roadworthy''.

The scandal began in the US on September 18, when the Environmental Protection Agency said 482,000 Volkswagen vehicles were fitted with sophisticated defeat device software, which switches engines to a cleaner mode when they are undergoing official testing.

Once on the road the cars produced nitrogen oxide pollutants at up to 40 times the legal standard.

The UK has the second largest number of affected vehicles so far, behind Germany which has 2.8 million.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin told the company's bosses to resolve the issue quickly.

He said: "The government's priority is to protect the public and I understand VW are contacting all UK customers affected.

"I have made clear to the managing director this needs to happen as soon as possible.

"The government expects VW to set out quickly the next steps it will take to correct the problem and support owners of these vehicles already purchased in the UK."

Richard Lloyd, executive director of consumer group Which?, said: "We now need the Government to urgently set out a timetable for action so that consumers can get redress.

"We also want the rest of the car industry to swiftly set out whether their tests have been manipulated and if their customers have been misled."