Prius brakes not broken in the UK, says Toyota

After suffering the ignominy of recalling a vast number of petrol-engined models because of sticky accelerator pedals, Toyota is facing another crisis over its Prius hybrid, the car which has made electric motor-petrol engine combos respectable in mainstream motoring.

Reports from Japanese and US customers highlight a failure of the Prius' braking system, although Toyota says there have been no such problems in Europe, including the UK.

Some 3,000 Prius vehicles have been sold in the UK.

Unlike the sticking accelerator problem, which so far has been known to afflict the iQ, Aygo, Yaris, Auris, Corolla, Avensis and Verso models, the braking system failures are due to a software fault, according to Toyota.

Worldwide, Toyota has had to recall about eight million vehicles to deal with the accelerator fault. In Britain, 180,865 cars have been recalled.