Five roads in Leeds are due to breach legal limits of air pollution, according to a government study.
Roads that will produce illegal amounts of nitrogen dioxide gas include the A58 and the M621.
In the study, it was shown that out of 1,800 of Britain’s major roads, 81 of them, or 4%, are due to breach legal pollution limits, with 33 of these outside of London.
The government announced in a plan yesterday, 26 July, that Yorkshire will be given a share of £255m in an attempt to tackle roadside nitrogen dioxide concentrations.
Councils have been asked to produce air quality plans and to bid to the Clean Air Fund. Some councillors have complained that the government is merely passing responsibility on to local authorities.
It was also confirmed that the sale of new conventional petrol and diesel cars would be stopped in 2040.
Air quality campaigners have criticised the decision as too little too late, with Friends of the Earth slamming the move as “cynical headline-grabbing”.