The scandal-hit German car-maker, Volkswagen, has admitted fitting with defeat emissions devices in almost 1.2 million British vehicles.

According to Volkswagen, the diesel emissions in the UK involve a wide-range of commercial models including Audis, Seats and Skoda.

This is the first time the company has revealed how many of its 11 million products fitted with a device to cheat emissions tests. The revelation indicates that one in 10 VW vehicles involved in the scandal are in the UK.

The emissions test scandal has rocked the carmaker forcing German prosecutors to open an investigation against the former chief of Volkswagen, Martin Winterkorn who has so far denied any knowledge of the manipulation of emissions results.

Volkswagen’s shares have plunged about 35 percent since it admitted cheating the US emissions tests on September 18. European stock markets also fell sharply this week following big declines in the share price of the company.

A number of European countries have already called for investigations into the issue.

The latest exposure by Volkswagen is likely to increase pressure on the British government to launch a full investigation into the scandal. According to the Department for Transport, there were 10.7m diesel cars on Britain’s roads at the end of 2014.