Air pollution concerns in the Midlands

here have long been concerns about the levels of air pollution in Britain's capital city, London, but it seems that it is not the only place with scary air quality levels.

Indeed, two of the biggest cities in the Midlands have recently been recorded as having dangerously high levels of air pollution.

A BBC Inside Out investigation found that the concentration of nitrogen dioxide outside of a primary school in Leicester is categorised as damaging to humans by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

In fact, Leicester was listed as the most polluted area in the country in terms of nitrogen dioxide, while Nottingham came in at second place.

It is thought that the pollution is caused by vehicles in the area, particularly in Leicester, as the roads near the school are reported as often being filled with traffic.

Professor Paul Monks, who is from Leicester and is a chief advisor to the government on air quality, claims that the problem lies in the design of the city. 

"Many of the cities in the Midlands expanded during the Victorian era with the suburbs round the edges and businesses and shops in the middle. That means at certain times of day you’re funnelling traffic into the centre of these cities which leads you to form a pollution hot spot," he explained.

It has been reported that Leicester is trying to tackle the problem head on.

Councillor Rory Palmer, from Leicester City Council, says: "There’s different ways of looking at this data and if you look at some of the data we’ve captured, it may challenge some of the data that we see from other sources. I don’t deny that there’s a challenge here, but it’s a challenge we are determined to address."

He added: "If we want to reduce Nitrogen Dioxide, we have to see big improvements in the emissions from vehicles, or reduce the amount of traffic on our roads – and that’s something we are trying to do as well."