Japanese car manufacturer Toyota has acknowledged there is a problem with the braking system of its hybrid car the Prius.

Toyota says a design error is responsible for a slight delay in the brakes. The company has found a clash between the anti-lock braking system (ABS) and regenerative braking. Toyota says the clash will only occur under limited circumstances, including on frozen surfaces. Depressing the brakes further will activate normal braking and the company says the problem is not seen as a safety hazard.

Toyota says the problem has been fixed in the cars that were produced in the past few weeks. It is not yet known whether the company will recall older Priuses. Toyota recently recalled about 8 million vehicles worldwide because of a problem with defective accelerator pedals on seven models

Photo: Toyota Prius (Flickr / Handolio)