'Dieselgate' first: Court orders full refund for Škoda buyer

According to Court Number 4 in Manacor, the customer bought a Škoda Greenline – similar to the one pictured - in 2012 for the sum of €19,378, which turned out to have been fitted with the rogue software which masked true emissions readings.

The buyer, represented by Messrs Martínez-Blanco Solicitors, has been awarded a full refund plus interest, despite the fact that he has owned the car for five years and it has several thousand kilometres on the clock.

This exemplary sentence is in part due to the fact that Volkswagen initially claimed the affected vehicles were low-emission, meaning buyers who were concerned about the environment and, where applicable, wanted to pay less annual tax based upon this, were persuaded by the advertising to make their purchase.

As the compensation has been awarded by a county court, the verdict is open to appeal through the Provincial Court should Volkswagen Audi Spain wish to do so.

And Provincial Courts have been setting compensation levels at €500 for 'dieselgate' claims.

The scandal was uncovered by a team of scientists in Germany, who included a PhD student from Castellón's Jaume I University, after tests showed that nitrous oxide (NOx) emissions from several Volkswagen brands – including Audi and Škoda models – were far higher than they appeared, as a computer programme had been installed to hide the true levels.

As well as a large-scale consumer fraud, the 'dieselgate' scam was a massive health hazard, given that over six million people worldwide die every year as a direct result of air pollution, the main source of which is traffic.

Photograph: YouTube