The Treasury, it's really not warming to proposals for a scrappage scheme in this country. In fact, it is giving off about as much warmth as a curry left over from the night before, left outside in a blizzard in Siberia.

An official said this morning that while it was being considered by a number of departments - Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform, Treasury, Revenue - but there are a number of stumbling block.

The insider said: "As we are all aware, a number of other countries have introduced scrappage schemes. But, we believe they are costing these countries more than they had anticipated."

The Government is also determined to focus on reform of the VED system. "Our emphasis is on this rather than other environmental issues," he said.

"We are in the advanced stages of discussions on scrappage, but by no means are we near making our minds up."