SO it seems that there are plans to introduce some kind of scrappage scheme for diesel cars although the details are very unclear.

It is an important issue and, in particular, for people living in rural areas like Ludlow and south Shropshire and Tenbury and the Teme Valley.

The reason for this is that the distances in rural areas are that much greater and therefore so are the fuel costs.

Perhaps it helps the debate to rehearse the broad historical case for petrol and diesel.

Petrol is cleaner, better performance, especially and the engines are smoother and quieter.

On the other hand, diesel engines are more reliable and last longer but by far the biggest advantage is that they are much more fuel efficient and therefore cost less to run. Even though diesel is typically a few pence a litre more expensive than petrol this is still more than outweighed by the superior efficiency of the diesel.

This lower running cost is further enhanced the higher the mileage that is driven and in particular in urban driving conditions. It is not by accident that taxis and commercial vehicles have diesel engines.

Technology has slightly changed the picture. Petrol engines have become more efficient but on a like-for-like basis still cannot match the diesel when it comes to fuel economy.

Diesels have become cleaner, quieter and much more refined. While on a like-for-like basis a petrol-engine car would win a drag race from the traffic lights, for all practical purposes there is nothing to choose when it comes to performance.

On balance, other than for people who do a relatively low annual mileage, it is easy to argue that the balance of advantage sits with the diesel.

There are other alternatives including hybrid vehicles in which a petrol engine is normally matched with a battery. It is the greater efficiency of the diesel engine that makes matching an oil burner with a battery a less viable option.

Electric cars are becoming more common but access to charging points is still limited and range is also a problem when they are used outside an urban environment.

Hydrogen fuel cells are also full of promise but are for the future.

So for most people it will, for the foreseeable future, be a choice between petrol and diesel.

If the Government of whatever colour is minded to artificially move the goalposts by some kind of punitive move, probably via road tax or fuel duty, against the diesel then it will be poorer people with older vehicles in rural areas where distances will be greatest that will be hit most.

Such a move would also have an impact upon small businesses and tradespeople for whom the diesel van is an essential tool.

Like it or not, the diesel engine is here to stay for a long time to come and will remain a major source of propulsion when it comes to marine, rail and commercial and public service vehicles including buses.

It is to be hoped that careful thinking is given before a mean-spirited and spiteful move against the owners of diesel vehicles is taken.