Condemned as garages set to face “serious consequences”

The DVSA has this week issued yet more serious warnings for testers and garages offering DPF deletion services.

It comes just weeks after two testers were handed a two-year testing ban for offering to remove diesel particulate filters from vehicles  describing the services as “MOT friendly” and “hard to notice”.

The testing station was also banned for 28 days.

Danny Charles, MOT product manager at the DVSA, said: “The bans give a clear message about the importance of maintaining the integrity of the MOT.

‘Turning a blind eye’

“Remember, the consequences of turning a blind eye to a missing diesel particulate filter – or worse, actively taking part in their removal – can be serious for an MOT tester.

“A vehicle that needs a particulate filter and doesn’t have one should fail its MOT.

“If you pass it knowing that it doesn’t have one, you’re harming the environment and committing fraud.”

Fraud

It is an offence, under the Road Vehicles Regulations to use a vehicle which has been modified in such a way that it no longer complies with the air pollutant emissions standards it was designed to meet.

For drivers, the potential penalties for driving a vehicle without a diesel particulate filter are fines of up to £1,000 for a car or £2,500 for a light goods vehicle.