The European Union (EU) is set to take the UK to court due to its breaching of EU pollution laws, it has emerged.
According to reports, air pollution near the majority of tested roads is in some cases more than twice the level recommended by the United Nations' World Health organisation.
Figures from the British government estimate that sooty particles emitted from diesel-consuming vehicles lead to around 12,000 to 24,000 deaths per year.
Simon Birkett from the Campaign for Clean Air in London commented: "We urge the government to say urgently how it will comply fully with these laws. It can try to delay introducing measures to reduce air pollution but eventually it will have to meet these directives."
Britain was given six years by the EU to reduce levels of pollutants in the air in 1999.
Across the Atlantic, a researcher in California has claimed that since the introduction of a cap on burning wood at various times, 50 fewer premature deaths related to pollution have been reported.
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