Taking old cars off the road would cut nitrogen-based pollution by 35%, research commissioned by the AD has found.

The research, carried out by Delft University of Technology, showed that cars older than 15 years are responsible for 50% of fine particulate car pollution, even though they only account for 17% of the Dutch fleet.

The government is due to announce what it plans to cut nitrogen-based pollution later this week. Measures on the table include cutting the maximum speed to 100kph, car-free Sundays and financial bonus for people who trade in their old vehicles.

A previous campaign in 2009 succeeded in removing 80,000 cars before the money ran out. Motoring organisation Bovag and car manufacturers organisation RAI Vereniging have said they are in favour of repeat of that scheme, which at the time encouraged the sale of new, cleaner cars.

‘Almost a third of diesel cars are more than 10 years old,’ RAI chairman Steven van Eijck told the paper.  ‘These should be replaced by newer cars which are less polluting. You can do that through making new cars cheaper by abolishing the purchase tax and bringing in a scheme to encourage owners to scrap older cars.’