A TOTAL of 1,511 motorists in Oxford could miss out on compensation over the VW emissions scandal, with only a few days left until the deadline closes, lawyers have claimed.

But VW maintains that there is no legal basis for customers to receive any compensation.

New figures from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency show that there are still thousands of people in the area who could be in line for compensation from the German car giant but so far in the city only 102 drivers have signed up to claim.

The UK courts have set a deadline for drivers of vehicles fitted with so-called ‘defeat devices’, which helped VW-made cars beat emissions tests, to join the £200m claim.

VW has pointed outed there has been no formal finding in the UK or the EU that the cars were fitted with a so-called 'defeat device'. 

The ‘Dieselgate’ scandal has already seen the company pay out of £12 billion in the United States, where the German car giant was found to have mis-sold vehicles.

Now British drivers who bought an affected VW, Skoda, SEAT or Audi, must file a claim before October 26 if they wish to be compensated.

Lawyers at Slater and Gordon, which is leading a group action against VW, have urged drivers to register their claim with them before Monday in time for the court’s deadline of October 26.

Gareth Pope, head of group litigation for Slater and Gordon, said: “There are hundreds of thousands of affected motorists who will miss out on compensation they could be owed.

“We would urge them to act now as time is running out.”

A VW spokeswoman said: "Our consistent position has been that the instigation of UK legal proceedings was unfounded, and we will robustly defend any such litigation. There is no legal basis for customer claims in connection with the diesel matter. We do not believe that the relevant software is a prohibited defeat device.

“Our UK customers have not suffered any loss or damage as a result of the NOx issue. The vehicles are safe and roadworthy, and perform as advertised. The required approvals are available and have not been withdrawn. Implementation of the voluntary service campaign is ongoing. The residual value of the vehicles has been not affected as a result of the diesel issue.”

She added: "We have implemented the technical measures in over 860,000 vehicles in the UK and in approximately 6.4 million vehicles across Europe, with the overwhelming majority of customers in question fully satisfied.”

Visit slatergordon.co.uk/vw