”I am astonished by the misleading and ridiculous statements attributed to the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) in recent press stories on garage mechanics,'”said Fred Maguire, president of the RMI, and chairman of the policy council of Automotive Skills (bidding to be sector skills council for the motor industry).

Following an IMI survey, media reports on Thursday 9 October said that Britain's mechanics are unqualified to work on modern cars, and are putting motorists at risk. The claim was made based on IMI research involving interviews with 50 businesses and individuals.

Maguire said: “How astonishing that the IMI, professional body for the motor industry, charged with encouraging and promoting professionalism in the motor industry, should so belittle the sector and its own members on the basis of interviewing a handful of people from an industry that employs over 500,000.”

Automotive Skills, in bidding to become the Sector Skills Council for the retail motor sector, performed its own study earlier this year, based on a sample of 2,000 garage businesses.