The Mayor of London has announced a £25m scrappage scheme to be launched later this year, as city leaders call for a nationwide rollout.

The scheme will take place in addition to a £23 million van scrappage fund, which is intended to help small businesses scrap vans that do not comply with the new Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) standards, but which are driven into the central London on a regular basis.

Combined, the two schemes total £48 million worth of funding to “help those who face serious financial pressure in upgrading to greener options”.

It’s estimated that the funds could help take nearly half a million older, more polluting cars, vans, and buses off the roads.

The announcement was made as Khan and a number of other city leaders joined UK100, a network of local government leaders aiming to move their communities to 100 per cent clean energy by 2050, in calls for the government to launch a nationwide scrappage scheme.

Attendees at the National Clean Air Summit discussed their concerns directly with the Environment Secretary, Michael Gove, and the Health Secretary, Matthew Hancock.

Khan was joined by other city leaders, including the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, the Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, the Mayor of the West of England and the Mayor of the Sheffield City Region, to ask for greater government investment in clean air, the adoption of World Health Organisation air pollution recommended limits and the establishment of a £1.5 billion government-funded vehicle upgrade programme.

Khan described the UK’s “filthy air” as a “national disgrace”.

He said that ministers needed to match his commitment in order for the scheme to succeed, describing it as “vital and only fair” that the government should fund a national scrappage scheme.

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