A third of the 23 million cars that have a Ministry of Transport (MOT) roadworthiness test each year fail and are therefore unroadworthy, requiring remedial action to pass.

In Britain, all cars over the age of three years have to take and pass the test in order to be legally allowed on public roads.

Shock figures from the government’s Vehicle Inspectorate show that 31.7 per cent of the 22,775,000 cars, vans and passenger vehicles with up to 12 seats tested in 2000 failed their MOT test.