Volkswagen has created a fix for cars affected by the emissions scandal, and hopes to recall UK cars in 2016.

After several of the car maker's diesel models were found to use 'cheat software' to conceal the level of polluting nitrous oxide the cars emit during tests, Volkswagen will now upgrade affected UK cars.

The Federal Motor Transport Authority has approved measures to fix Volkswagen cars that used software to cheat emissions tests, including popular Volkswagen Golf and Volkswagen Passat models.

The recall, which will extend to Audi, Seat and Skoda vehicles, will be announced in January 2016 but could continue through the entire year, says Volkswagen. However, it has confirmed customers will be offered 'appropriate' replacement vehicles free of charge while the work is taking place.

Affected cars with the 1.6-litre EA 189 engine will need a new mesh fitted to an engine part, the air mass sensor, as well as a software upgrade to the engine. The improvements are expected to take an hour to complete.

It is estimated 400,000 Volkswagen cars fall into this category and cannot be fixed with a software update alone.

Meanwhile, 2.0-litre engines only need a software upgrade and will take around 30 minutes, says Volkswagen. A third engine, the 1.2-litre, has not been included in the latest upgrades and a solution will be announced at a later date.

Despite the upgrades, Volkswagen says while it wants to meet the emissions targets it set using the cheat software, "all model variants first have to be measured, (and) the achievement of these targets cannot yet be finally confirmed."

Drivers of Volkswagen cars can check if they are affected by entering their details on the Volkswagen website .

The Volkswagen cars are safe to drive while customers wait for a recall.