Hundreds more Londoners are buying electric cars as the scale of the capital’s air pollution problem is laid bare, official figures reveal today.

They show a jump of more than 22 per cent in electric cars, including hybrids, registered in the city in the first three months of the year, nearly 800, compared with 650 in the first quarter of 2015. In the South-East, the rise was a huge 84.9 per cent, from 1,632 to 3,019.

“Electric cars are proving increasingly popular in the South-East among commuters who use them to drive to the station where (charging) infrastructure has been installed,” said David Stupples, professor of electronic and electrical engineering at City University.

Other factors in the South-East include that families are more likely to have two cars, so may opt for one to be electric, and have driveways and therefore easier access to charging.

“Whether Londoners drive an ultra-green car or an old gas guzzler they face the same problem — where to park them,” said Philip Gomm of the RAC Foundation. “Throw in the trip hazard of a charging cable and you can see why ownership might be low in the capital compared with the shires.” There are clusters of company headquarters in the South-East, in areas such as Slough, so their electric car fleets may be included in the region’s figures.

People in the capital and wider South-East are often more environmentally aware than other regions, particularly on air pollution which experts say kills more than 9,000 a year in London.

The number of electric cars registered in London has jumped from 61 in the whole of 2010 to a total now over 5,000. More charging points are being installed under the Source London scheme.