ALLEGATIONS that car manufacturers and the Government are being too complacent over the threat of the 'millennium bug' have been supported by MPs on the all-party transport select committee. The AA wrote to the committee expressing its concerns at the apathetic attitude of many manufacturers.

The motoring organisation had previously written to 30 manufacturers to try to find out details of the threat the millennium could have on the functioning of vehicles. The responses were vague, says the AA, with the only assurance that as vehicle control systems have nothing to do with date dependency there should be no problem. The AA says it does not believe all vehicles will grind to a halt, but says there could well be problems with alarms, immobilisers and temperature control systems.

The Government's transport committee is to seek from manufacturers the assurances that all cars that have a potential problem are identified, and the details made available to dealers, the Government's Vehicle Inspectorate and motoring organisations. It also wants to ensure that if there is any chance of a safety-related defect, the normal recall procedures will be implemented well in advance of the critical time, and if it is not possible to eliminate the possibility of a malfunction, a general procedure for overcoming faults will be specified.