Prices of second-hand cars dropped 19% last month, according to an Alliance and Leicester Car Price Index survey.

In this used car category, small cars plunged 21.4%, followed by executive cars falling by 20.7%, with compact executive models depreciating by just over 20%.

New car prices also fell last month, on average by about 3.2% in comparison to this time last year. Prices of nearly new cars – the one year-old category – also fell by 16.7 % in the 12 months to May 2000.