MANUFACTURERS are investigating how one of Britain's largest used car dealers sold P-plate cars from August 1 at discounts of up to £4,000.

Cannock-based Car Supermarket, formerly Motorhouse, offered cars with just delivery miles. Offers included a Vauxhall Monterey LTDi five door at £21,999 (down £4,000), a Fiat Bravo at £9,099 (down £1,062), a Renault Megane 1.4 RN at £11,190 (down £1,591), a Ford Escort 1.6 LXi at £9,009 (down £3,261) and a Mercedes C220 Elegance at £24,999 ( down £2,000).

Car Supermarket marketing manager, Nick DiCesare said the company would sell about 60 P-reg cars this month. Traders said the cars might have come from fleets buying more cars than they needed to obtain volume bonuses then selling on. DiCesare said: 'We buy from all over the country. We would buy from fleet operators.'

Ford took a 'dim view' of dealers selling cars to the Car Supermarket. Mercedes said a claimed C220 Elegance with a £2,000 discount was a 'model year two years old built in June 1995.' DiCesare said: 'The Mercedes is P-reg and brand new.' Vauxhall said the Montereys were 1995 spec models a Vauxhall dealer sold profitably to a customer who sold them to Car Supermarket. Fiat said: 'These cars came from one source in Southern Ireland and we are taking steps to remedy this situation.'

Graham Russell, Staffordshire assistant county trading standards officer, said Car Supermarket 'could substantiate what they were saying about P-reg cars. They were being sold at the claimed discounts.'