Sheffield suburb suffers from poor air quality

Residents in a Sheffield suburb are suffering from some of the worst air quality in the entire city, it has been revealed.

The air in Broomhill was deemed to contain 50 per cent more nitrogen dioxide than is considered safe under EU legislation, the Sheffield Star reports.

This result was particularly staggering as the area was found to have a worse pollution issue than places close to the busy M1 motorway.

EU chiefs may hit the UK government with sizeable fines if it cannot improve air quality by reducing nitrogen dioxide levels to below 40 microgrammes per cubic metre, which is the accepted safe amount.

A spokesman for Sheffield Council told the publication that local authorities would not be fined under European law, but punishments issued to the government "could run into hundreds of millions of euros".

Last week, Belgian researchers found that the fumes from traffic can cause more than 9,000 heart attacks across the UK each year.

Posted by Joseph Hutton