The CBI, a leading businees group has said that energy-efficient driving should become a mandatory part of the driving test so learners can show they can drive smoothly and adopt more efficient motoring techniques.

Dr Neil Bentley, the CBI's director of business environment, said: "More than a quarter of the UK's greenhouse gases come from personal transport, half of which is from cars. Making small changes to the way we drive will reduce carbon emissions and could save motorists up to £250 a year.

"Simply changing gears more smoothly to avoid sharp braking and acceleration can reduce fuel consumption by a third. Learner drivers already have to demonstrate they can drive in a fuel-efficient way during the course of their driving test, but this is not a pass or fail element.

"Making energy-efficient driving techniques a part of the test will make a significant contribution to changing the next generation of motorists' behaviour, and to cutting transport emissions."