UK to ban sales of petrol and diesel cars from 2040

Britain's government will announce on Wednesday that it will ban the sale of petrol and diesel-fuelled cars from 2040 when all vehicles must be fully electric as part of a plan to clean up air pollution, local media reported on Tuesday.

The reported move follows a similar announcement earlier this month by the French government.

No one was immediately available for comment at Britain's environment ministry which was due to make the announcement.

The sale of new hybrid vehicles that have an electric motor combined with a petrol or diesel engine would also end under the plan, The Times said.

The government has been under pressure to take measures to reduce air pollution after losing legal cases brought by campaign groups.

Under the proposals due to be announced on Wednesday, local authorities would be able to charge levies on the drivers of the diesel vehicles on the most polluted roads from 2020, if air quality does not improve.

Separately on Tuesday, German carmaker BMW said it had chosen its plant in Oxford, England as the location to produce an electric Mini from 2019.

Earlier this month, Volvo became the first major traditional automaker to set a date for phasing out vehicles powered solely by the internal combustion engine by saying all its car models launched after 2019 will be electric or hybrids.