According to UK Transport Minister John Haynes, nearly 1.2 million British Volkswagen (VW) drivers affected by the diesel emissions scandal have been "taken for a ride" by the automaker in so far as compensation for the scandal is concerned.

Asserting that VW must compensate British motorists affected by the scandal, which revealed that VW had outfitted its diesel vehicles with software to cheat green air tests, Haynes recently told The Telegraph that he is in discussion with VW about the compensation.

Haynes’ assertion that British VW drivers must be compensated by the company comes against the backdrop of the fact that US judges, in an earlier-this-year decision, had approved a £12 billion settlement which forced VW to compensate the scandal-affected US drivers to the tune of up to £8,000 each.

In addition, VW further agreed to a £810 million compensation for its luxury car owners affected by the emissions scandal.

However, with VW not having offered compensation to any of the 1.2 million affected drivers in the UK, Haynes told The Telegraph that he "is determined to do right by the British motorist."

Revealing that he has recently worked out a deal with VW for covering the £1.1 million cost of vehicle emissions tests on other automakers carried out by the Government earlier this year, Haynes said: “This payment [the £1.1m] is an important step on the road to getting VW to do what they should and a result of my fierce determination to do right by the motorist.”