Thousands of UK motorists have signed up to legal action against Volkswagen over the German carmaker's diesel emissions scandal, the law firm behind the claim said.
Harcus Sinclair said around 10,000 drivers had signed up to the group action, each seeking £3-4,000 per car.
The case centres on the difference between the price paid by motorists for vehicles and the "inherent value" of what they received, the lawyers said.
Volkswagen said it would "robustly" defend the case - which could cost it more than £30m if claims made so far succeed - and that it did not believe customers would miss out due to the scandal.
The German company admitted in September 2015 that nearly half a million diesel vehicles in the US were fitted with defeat device software to cheat on emissions tests.
It later said 11 million vehicles were affected worldwide, including almost 1.2 million in the UK.
Volkswagen is involved in lawsuits in several countries and has already agreed a $15bn (£12bn) settlement with US authorities and owners of affected vehicles.
In October a Spanish court ruled that the owner of an affected car should be paid €5,000 (£4,300) by the company, but there have been no such payouts in the UK.
British authorities have been accused by some consumers and MPs of being too slow to act for not pursuing compensation or criminal proceedings.
It emerged last month that the UK is one of four countries facing legal action by the European Union for not imposing penalties on Volkswagen over the issue.
Mary Creagh, chair of the Commons Environmental Audit Committee, said: "In the absence of Government action it is inevitable that motorists would take matters into their own hands and pursue private action in the courts."
The group legal action involving Harcus Sinclair is the first in relation to the scandal on behalf of UK customers.
It is pursuing a case against the group's brands VW, Audi, Seat and Skoda at the High Court, with an application due to he heard on 30 January.
Damon Parker, head of litigation at Harcus Sinclair UK Ltd, said: "It is only right that UK car owners affected by the scandal have the opportunity to seek compensation.
"We have secured funding so that those affected can bring this claim against VW at no cost to themselves.
"The group action aims to ensure that, if VW is found to have misled consumers about the environmental damage caused by their cars, they are penalised accordingly so as to discourage this sort of behaviour from happening again."
Industry figures last week showed Volkswagen's UK sales had fallen by 7.5% in 2016.
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