Car makers could face criminal charges if they use special software to defeat emissions tests, under powers sought by ministers - the Financial Times reports.

The measures would help prevent another Volkswagen-style emissions scandal.

Lawmakers want to be able to recall vehicles that emit illegal amounts of nitrogen oxide (NOx) gases, which have been connected with serious breathing problems among urban residents. Manufacturers of the dangerous fumes may also face criminal charges.

The measures are to be officially announced by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in a clean air strategy document.

The proposals are likely to be a centrepiece of DEFRA's "Road to Zero" strategy, which is expected to be published sometime this month. It will outline how the government intends to wean UK motorists off diesel cars.

Instituting the ability to recall vehicles with emissions defeating software is likely to be highly complex, chiefly due to difficulties in proving such software is operating in overseas-made cars.

Ministers, however, are intent on preventing a scandal similar to the one that embroiled VW. The German firm's emission cheating software resulted in one million highly polluting cars being sold in Britain.

Other car makers have also been accused of harnessing cheat software to lower apparent emissions on the road. These include Fiat Chrysler and Vauxhall.

In London alone, up to 9,400 premature deaths have been linked to illegal levels of nitrogen oxide. The ClientEarth environmental law group has been pressurising UK ministers to act on the issue.

Britain, together with five other European Union countries, has found itself referred to Brussels over inaction on air pollution.

A number of new measures to deal with polluted air are expected in the clean air strategy and will be revealed by Michael Gove, the environment secretary, very soon.