The Volkswagen Group has said that it “promptly moved” to alert authorities in Germany after discovering abnormalities in new emissions software applied to one of its diesel engines.

German news outlet Deutsche Welle reported that VW had detected "anomalies" while running internal checks on updated software designed to measure emissions in its 1.2-litre diesel engine.

VW said the update was developed by a third party, adding that it had "promptly moved" to inform Germany's transport authority following discovery of the anomalies.

The German carmaker will now meet with authorities to discuss the issue.

"Appointments have already been made for early January, in order to intensively pursue further checks and analysis," VW said in a statement issued on Sunday (December 23).

"As a short-term precaution, there was a joint decision to halt the current implementation."

Volkswagen announced the recall of 460,000 cars fitted with its 1.2 TDI diesel engine back in August 2016 as part of a series of correctional measures approved by Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority, the KBA, following the 2015 dieselgate scandal.

At the time, Autocar reported that the EA189 1.2-litre TDSI unit could be found in smaller VW Group cars, including the Skoda Fabia and Seat Ibiza.

It reported that 18,018 British-based Volkswagen Polo would be recalled, in total.