UK business minister Anna Soubry has told the Sun she intends to close a legal loophole which allows the practise of clocking to occur.

Soubry was speaking in response to a Sun investigation which found ‘dozens’ of firms offering to slash car mileage in order to increase a car’s value or put the mileage within a finance contracts agreed terms.

The Sun reported that at a number of ‘mileage correction firms’ the reporter was able to pay to have tens of thousands of miles removed from the vehicles dashboard reading.

In response to the investigation, the paper reported the minister ‘pledged a law change to close the loophole’.

Soubry’s intervention isn’t the first time authorities have moved to clamp down on the practise. In March 2015, the European Parliament said it would outlaw firms that offer to wind back the mileage.

However Sue Robinson, director of the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) said: "We are concerned over the robustness of the current EU proposal to outlaw mileage correction companies by 2018, warning it does not do enough to tackle the growing issue of clocking.

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"It is estimated that between 1.6m and 3m cars may have had their mileage altered and in the next three years thousands more cars will continue to be clocked- hugely compromising the safety of cars on UK roads.

"A broader zero tolerance stance must be adopted. We continue to call on government to draft legislation to tackle the problem, and fully support the Sun’s investigation."

Soubry’s statement was also welcomed by Cap and Hpi, which has often commented on the potential dangers of car clocking.

Neil Hodson, deputy managing director of Cap and Hpi, said: "News that Business Minister Anna Soubry is going to take a stand against mileage correction firms illustrates just how serious a problem clocking continues to be to this day and we are delighted that the spotlight is falling on these fraudsters again.

"We want to remind both used car buyers and the legislators that enable ‘Mileage Correction Firms’ to continue, that it isn’t just a ‘financial fraud’ issue – as important as that is – but more vitally a question of safety, which no-one can afford to ignore."