CARS which are more than 12 years old with exhaust emissions which do not meet strict standards will be banned from Glasgow city centre in four years time.

The timescales for the Low emissions Zone in Glasgow are set to be agreed by councillors this week.

While the zone will be phased in for buses from December 31 this year until 2022 from then the standards will apply to all vehicles, including private cars.

The SNP administration is rejecting an amendment by Labour and Greens to bring forward the full implementation date to April 2021 after it was branded a No Ambition Zone.

The council administration said it can’t be done earlier and says it would present difficulties for businesses and residents to comply.

Anna Richardson, convenor for carbon reduction, said it will also cause difficulty for the council to set up the monitoring an enforcement infrastructure needed.

The LEZ means that unless a vehicle meets a certain standard on exhaust emissions it will be banned from the zone which will cover the city centre from Charing Cross to High Street and from the River Clyde to the M8 flyover at Cowcaddens.

The standards for buses will be the strictest Euro 6 and bus firms will get help to upgrade their fleet gradually over the four years.

For private cars the standard which must be complied with by December 31 2022 is Euro 4 for petrol engines, which has been applied to all cars which were registered since January 1 2006.

For diesel engines the standard will be Euro by the same date.

The standard means they must emit a maximum of 1gram of carbon monoxide per kilometre and 0,08 grams of nitrogen oxide per km.

The bus phase will operate round the clock seven days a week and will see 205 of all buses travelling though the city centre zone compliant with the strictest, Euro 6 standards.

It will increase by 20% each year until December 2022 when all buses will need to comply.

A decision on the restriction days and times for private cars will be taken at a later date.

The measures once in place are expected to enable Glasgow to comply with air quality standards.

Ms Richardson said, in a report to councillors: “Glasgow is now forging a national path towards cleaner air.

“Indeed the introduction of Glasgow’s LEZ is in line with a developing urban policy agenda throughout Europe.”