It seems Britain is increasingly getting a taste for turning to the courts in search of resolution. The first group litigation order has just been filed in claims arising out of the Volkswagen emissions scandal against VW, Audi, SEAT and Skoda.  Harcus Sinclair U.K. Limited, a leading U.K. law firm specializing in large group litigation is the lead solicitor, collaborating with other law firms including Slater and Gordon.

“VW has shown utter contempt, not just for the rights and health of their U.K. consumers but also for the environment. This legal action is the best opportunity that British customers will have for holding VW to account over this scandal,” said Jacqueline Young, head of group litigation at Slater and Gordon.

The Volkswagen emissions scandal was first covered by me here on Forbes in ” When ‘Hubris’ Leads To A Corporate Governance Disaster – And Shareholder Pain. ”

Herbert Diess, Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG, Chairman of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand speaks before the North American International Auto Show. AP Photo/Paul Sancya

Now, it seems, consumers have had enough. The scandal has affected 1.2 million cars in the U.K. alone. A group of 10,000 VW owners is seeking £3,000 ($3,649) each, or £30 million ($36.5 million). Peanuts to Volkswagen perhaps, but multiply that amount by all the cars affected and you open an entirely new scenario, potentially over $4 billion.

Greenpeace, the independent global campaigning organization, was quick to respond.

“Diesel emissions are toxic to human health and its impacts fall especially hard on children, older people and people with existing lung diseases such as asthma. Yet almost nothing has been done to tackle car companies since they were caught cheating emissions tests,” said Areeba Hamid, clean air campaigner,.

“If cars were coming off the production line with dodgy brakes, there would be mass product recall. Yet unbelievably, consumers are still being incentivized to buy these brand new diesel cars that are pumping out illegal levels of pollution. That has to stop urgently and the car companies must be made to learn their lesson. This class action could turn the tables on car companies, and finally result in action to reduce toxic air pollution that’s causing so much harm to human health,” she added.

London broke the annual limit for air pollution just five days into 2017, according to data from the capital’s main monitoring system. “A site on Brixton Road in south London surpassed hourly limits for nitrogen dioxide concentrations 24 times so far this year, breaking the European Union’s annual permitted limit of 18 breaches, according to provisional data on King’s College London’s Air Quality Network website. The pollutant come from diesel engines in cars, trucks and other sources,” reported The Independent.

Volkswagen’s management woes are ongoing as it struggles with this scandal. Last week a U.S. judge ruled that its former chief executive Martin Winterkorn must face a lawsuit brought by U.S. investors who allege that the company improperly inflated its share price. Meanwhile in Germany it faces legal action from myRight , a consumer rights group which is trying to force the company to repurchase millions of cars.