The air quality of some of Scotland's major cities is deteriorating, according to the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa).
Overall the paper found that air pollution levels in Scottish cities have risen by 50 per cent over the last year.
The deterioration in air quality is chronic enough to breach European Union regulations, reports highlighted and sites such as Cupar in Fife have been declared designated Air Quality Management Areas in recent times.
Friends of the Earth Scotland's Duncan McLaren commented: "The Scottish government had a target of stabilising traffic growth but there has been no real effort to do this."
He added that further breaches will mean the country faces fines from the EU in the future.
In related environmental news, Sepa recently lent its support to a newly formed management body, Marine Scotland, which aims to study and monitor marine life in and around the country.
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