Industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said 139,345 new cars were registered in the UK last month.

Registrations of new cars fell by 2.5% last month, figures show.

Industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said 139,345 new cars were registered in the UK in January.

That compares with 142,876 during the same month last year.

The fall was driven by a 15.3% drop in deliveries of petrol cars.

There was a 41.6% spike in the uptake of pure battery electric cars, resulting in a market share of 21.3%.

Under the zero-emission vehicle (Zev) mandate, at least 28% of new cars sold by each manufacturer in the UK this year must be zero-emission, which generally means pure electric.

Failure to abide by the mandate or make use of flexibilities – such as buying credits from rival companies or making........

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