Air pollution levels 'dangerously high' in many Mansfield and Ashfield neighbourhoods

The figures, from Friends of the Earth, also reveal more than two-thirds of Mansfield neighbourhoods are also exposed to the same dangerously high levels.

Across England and Wales, 36.1 million people, including eight million children, were breathing air with hazardous levels of nitrogen dioxide in 2022.

It comes as the Government announced it was pushing back the deadline for several environmental policies such as the ban on sales of new diesel and petrol cars.

The analysis revealed 70 neighbourhoods in Ashfield and 46 in Mansfield were exposed to air pollution exceeding the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended safety limit

This meant that, across the two districts, approximately 197,000 people were breathing polluted air in the area in 2022, which has been linked to up to 72,000 premature deaths every year in the UK.

In addition, there were 33 schools in Mansfield, and 45 in Ashfield, where the dirty air was recorded – affecting 42,000 children overall across th two districts.

Mike Childs, Friends of the Earth’s head of policy, said: “It’s a national scandal that millions of people across the country live in areas where air pollution is double the safety level, with children, the elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions most at risk.”

“Rishi Sunak’s back-pedalling on measures aimed at tackling poor air quality will simply prolong people’s misery.

“If Keir Starmer wins the next election, he will be under intense pressure to give this issue the priority it deserves.”

A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokesperson said: “This data makes comparisons to WHO guidelines which are intended to inform the setting of air quality standards and are not ready-made targets for adoption.

"Natural and transboundary sources alone mean that even if all humans left the south east it would still have levels higher than the WHO guideline.

“We absolutely recognise the importance of protecting people from air pollution – which is why we have set stretching new targets for fine particulate matter, and are taking comprehensive action set out in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 to improve air quality for all.”