There are more polluting cars on the Dutch roads since the government slashed a special tax break on energy efficient company cars, according to motoring organisation Bovag and RAI.

Last year, a new car in the Netherlands was responsible for an average of 101 grammes of carbondioxide per kilometre but this year so far, the figure has risen to 110 grammes, the organisations say.

The company car tax on the most energy efficient hybrid cars went up 4% to 15% at the beginning of this year. From next year, there will be two company car tax tariffs in the Netherlands: 4% for fully electric cars and 22% for all others.

The Netherlands had been a European leader in the use of energy efficient cars but this may no longer be the case, the organisers say.

In April, the national statistics office CBS said some 60,000 electric and hybrid cars were bought in the Netherlands last year, taking the total number on the Dutch roads to around 211,000.

This may be an increase of over 33% on a year ago, but electric or hybrid cars still account for just one in 40 of the cars on the Dutch roads, the CBS said.

Hybrid cars bought this year will be liable for the 15% rate for the next five years, so this could prompt a run on sales in the final months of the year, Bovag and RAI said.