British new car buyers 'missing out on discounts'

New car buyers have missed out on £250m worth of discounts in the past year, it has been claimed.

The discounts of up to £500 a car have been available under a British Government order made in September 2000.

But around half of car buyers have not got the discount, reckons jamjar.com - the car-buying website run by the Direct Line insurance company.

The discount comes under a Supply of New Cars Order 2000 which aims to provide a better deal for car buyers.

It required "suppliers to offer dealers who buy cars outright similar volume discounts to those offered to fleet buyers".

Jamjar.com's managing director Oliver Prill said: "The fact is that today, discounts and car prices remain very different in the retail and fleet market.

"The knock-on effect is that half of all retail buyers are losing out on up to £500 per car."

The jamjar.com claim follows this summer's latest EC figures which showed that the UK is the most expensive market in Europe for 52 out of 81 of the most popular new models.