More than 10,000 UK motorists are to challenge Volkswagen (VW) in court in the aftermath of its emissions scandal.

Led by law firm Harcus Sinclair, the claimants are seeking £30 million in compensation from the German car manufacturer after it admitted to using a software to falsify car emissions.

This works out at around £3,000 for each customer planning to claim.

The lawsuit will argue that drivers deserve a partial refund as they paid extra for what they were led to believe were clean diesel cars.

If the manufacturer had to pay the suggested £3,000 amount to every UK customer that bought an affected car under all of its brands (Skoda, Audi and SEAT), it would have to shell out more than £3.6 million.

VW said it will “robustly contest” the claim.

The application for litigation, which is free for claimants to join, will be heard in the High Court on the 30th of January.

VW is involved in lawsuits in several countries and has already agreed a $15 billion (£12.3bn) settlement in the US.

The EU has launched legal action against seven countries, including the UK, over the scandal.