The firm hopes to win millions of pounds in compensation for drivers embroiled in the “Dieselgate” scandal which comes in the wake of an English ruling that found that VW fitted a group of cars made using EA189 engines between 2007 and 2015 with “defeat devices”, which did not accurately reflect the volume of emissions the vehicles produced.

Some ninety thousand motorists who had affected VW, Audi, Seat and Skoda cars took action for compensation following the Dieselgate revelations five years ago.

Thompsons partner Patrick Mcguire told The Herald: “The English ruling is very significant and with this precedent being set south of the border the legal pressure on VW has increased greatly and we are very confident of a similar outcome in our civil courts.

“My team has spent the last few years building our case against VW and we have secured expert opinion from some of Scotland’s leading vehicle emission engineers which strongly supports our clients’ claims.

“And despite the current lockdown due to COVID-19, working fully from home, we are ready to move to the next stage in the class action.

“At a conservative estimate I would expect to secure several million pounds in compensation for our clients.

“It is also very important that any driver of a VW vehicle or a vehicle that is part of the VW group like Audi or Seat that is not part of our legal action join now as we will be unable to take on new cases after June.

“If you think you are affected you should contact my team now to join with us in this historic legal action.”

A spokesman for Volkswagen said: “While the High Court in London did make certain findings against Volkswagen Group on narrow points of law, we are seeking permission to appeal that decision.

“The court did not determine questions of liability, causation or loss which will be considered at trial in 2022.

“Importantly, the High Court did not make any findings that our customers paid a premium for a greener option.

“The High Court did not find that vehicles in the UK and Europe emit 40 times more emissions than had been claimed.”