Petrol and diesel drivers could save £3,200 by avoiding Sadiq Khan's Ulez scrappage scheme

Data from carwow found that drivers who sold their older petrol or diesel vehicles online received an average offer of £5,200.

This is more than double the £2,000 offered by Sadiq Khan’s scrappage scheme, which was recently extended to include most Londoners.

The online marketplace said that it had seen a large spike in listings for non-compliant vehicles on the website ahead of the expansion later this month.

It is believed that car dealers outside of the capital are looking to snap up any non-compliant vehicles to sell in other parts of the country.

Petrol vehicles need to have generally been registered with the DVLA after 2005 to be compliant, although some cars that meet the standards have been on the road since 2001.

Any driver in and around London will avoid the daily £12.50 charge if the vehicle was first registered after September 2015.

The Ulez scheme will expand to cover all London boroughs and Greater London, with millions of people expected to be included in the extension.

On August 21, every Londoner with a non Ulez-compliant car will be eligible for a £2,000 grant, or £1,000 for a motorcycle, to deal with the effects of the expansion.

Data from Transport for London shows that nine in 10 vehicles and 80 per cent of vans driving in outer London are already compliant.

Sally Foote, UK managing director at carwow, acknowledged that there is still strong demand for these cars in other parts of the UK.

She said: “While people in London may be selling their cars to avoid paying emissions charges, there are still plenty of buyers for these vehicles outside the big metropolitan areas who are less likely to be impacted by schemes like Ulez, or Clean Air Zones.

“While a car’s emission status can’t be changed, there are plenty of other things buyers can do to make their non-compliant car as attractive to buyers as possible - without going to bank-breaking lengths.

“We’d advise anyone looking to sell a non-compliant car, to get it valued - it might be worth more than you think - and to maximise the value of their old vehicle - for example, include service history photographs in your sales listing.”

On August 4, the London Mayor announced that grants for scrapping a non-compliant van would rise to £7,000 and grants to replace it with an electric van would jump to £9,500.

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Small businesses and sole traders have also been handed a lifeline, being able to apply to scrap up to three vehicles, an increase from one vehicle.