Burnham in vow over air pollution problem

Andy Burnham

ANDY Burnham says a wake-up call is needed over Greater Manchester's illegal levels of air pollution.

The Labour Party candidate in Greater Manchester's mayoral elections has promised a major drive to tackle the problem if he is to be elected in May.

The most recent data from the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs shows Greater Manchester has been in breach of its legal limits for nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant caused by road traffic, in every year since 2011.

Although some areas are more badly affected than others, the breach is based on an annual average worked out from data collected from monitoring stations across the whole of Greater Manchester.

The main effect of breathing in unsafe levels of the colourless gas is the increased risk of respiratory problems. Experts say nitrogen dioxide inflames the lining of the lungs, and can cause wheezing, coughing, colds, flu and bronchitis, as well as more serious health problems.

Figures obtained by Mr Burnham show last year more than 64,000 people were admitted to hospital in Greater Manchester with respiratory problems - a 26 per cent increase on 2010 - and amongst them over 14,000 children under the age of four.

According to research published by the British Lung Foundation, people living in Manchester are 27 per cent more likely to die from a lung condition than the rest of the UK.

The MP for Leigh has criticised the Government's decision to exclude Greater Manchester from its list of places receiving support to tackle air pollution.

The Government was recently taken to the High Court by 'Client Earth' over its failure to tackle illegal air pollution across the UK.

The court heard that Greater Manchester was one of the areas that was originally supposed to have received Government support to improve air quality. But, in the final plans, that support was denied, despite the region being one of the most polluted areas in the country.

Instead London, Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham, Southampton, Cardiff and Derby were all prioritised for Clean Air Zones.

Mr Burnham has written to Prime Minister Theresa May to demand Greater Manchester's new Mayor is given urgent support to improve air quality, including having the powers to introduce a Clean Air Zone.

A Clean Air Zone can stop the most polluting vehicles from entering areas with the worst air quality. Mr Burnham has said, if given the powers, he will focus on high-polluting vehicles, such as HGVs, and seek to cover areas where people who are most vulnerable to air pollution might be, such as schools.

Other ideas under consideration for a Clean Air Action Plan include:

* Mandating cleaner buses using new powers to regulate bus services

* Investing in new cycle lanes to give people a real alternative to using their cars

* Issuing clear information about levels