City one of Britain's worst air pollution rate offenders

The island tops the list of 33 towns and cities outside London with the worst air quality levels.

It has prompted calls by Portsmouth’s Green Party for the city council to take action. Tracey McCulloch said: ‘Portsmouth has consistently breached World Health Organization guidelines, with 95 premature deaths each year attributed to air pollution by the council’s own figures, yet all we hear from Councillor Robert New, the cabinet member for environment, is that air quality is improving. We need action now to save lives in Portsmouth.’

Cllr New said the main pollutants came from traffic fumes – something the council is working hard to reduce.

He said: ‘Improving air quality and reducing congestion underpins our local transport plan and is at the forefront of all our active travel initiatives. We have recently applied to the Air Quality Grant Fund, in the hope of progressing with further actions to reduce local air quality levels.’