UK motorists could face an automatic MOT failure if they do not carry out necessary repairs following a vehicle recall.

The failure of drivers to respond to recalls is viewed by the Government as impacting road safety.

The Government agrees that more needs to be done to improve road safety after a review into the Vauxhall Zafira fires; more than 55,000 Zafira owners did not have necessary repairs carried out. In some cases, owners had received up to seven letters from the carmaker, explaining the recall.

An investigation by Auto Express revealed that fewer than half of the top 10 recalls carried out in Britain since 2012 had been addressed.

The report found that more than a million cars may be on UK roads with safety issues of various kinds.

In response, discussions are taking place between the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency (DVLA), together with representatives of the car insurance industry.

Working alongside the Department for Transport, the DVSA is considering the possibility of automatic MOT fails if a vehicle has a recall overdue.

The Takata airbag scandal has impacted more vehicles than any other in recent years, yet few owners have responded to recalls. Just 1.5 per cent of affected BMW owners responded to recall requests, while only 25 per cent of Toyota owners responded to recalls involving Takata systems.

The DVSA has overseen 1,484 recall cases in the UK in the last five years alone, affecting more than nine million vehicles.