Archived press release

Named: britain's most polluted roads

18 January 1999

Government figures published last week list Britain's most polluted roads. The roads are those estimated by Government scientists to be at risk of still breaking air pollution standards in 2005 [1]

According to the Government's list, Britain's most polluted roads are:

• Park Lane in London's West End
• the North Circular Road in Hendon and West Hendon,
• Wellington Road in Leeds
• Grosvenor Place near Buckingham Palace

Government pollution scientists have forecast that levels of nitrogen dioxide [2] will still be above the Government's target at 761 sites nationwide by 2005, even if action is taken to reduce emissions from traffic.

London emerges as having the country's most polluted roads, with 39 of the 50 most polluted roads, and 495 of the total list of 761 roads. Other towns and cities with severe pollution hotspots are Birmingham, Bristol, Doncaster, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Leicester,Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Portsmouth, Runcorn and Sheffield.

The list was published in a technical appendix to the review of the National Air Quality Strategy, launched last Wednesday by John Prescott [3].

Last week the Government also admitted that traffic levels on Britain's roads would rise by more than a third by 2010, even if plans in the Transport White Paper for local congestion charging and traffic controls are finally put into law [4].

Tony Bosworth, Friends of the Earth's Air Pollution Campaigner, said:

"John Prescott says we have a right to clean air, yet thousands of people around Britain will be living and working in streets where the air is still not fit to breathe,even in 2005. And Mr Prescott has also admitted that his transport policies won't achieve the traffic reduction that he promised [5]. If Mr Prescott wants to make Britain's air fit to breathe, then he must now set a firm, clear traffic reduction target, and give councils the powers they need to charge motorists for driving into towns and cities. That will provide the money needed to invest in better public transport and make it safer and easier to cycle and walk".

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] Ref to pollution standards

[2] Details of NO2 - sources and health impacts

[3] Ref to NAQS review

[4]Ref to PQ

[5]Ref to Prescott's pledge

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust