Alarming dirty air figures prompt campaign to map Northampton's air pollution hotspots

Last week alarming figures published by Defra showed that Kingsthorpe suffered from the worst surface ozone levels in the UK at points during the heatwave.

This week the Northampton Green Party has released the first set of its own figures showing the extent of pollution in the town.

Since April 2016, it has been measuring the levels of nitrogen dioxide at 25 “critical points” around the Northampton.

The first set of results are now available on an interactive map, at http://tinyurl.com/gmwfqqa - showing two areas in St James topped illegal air pollution levels over the course of month.

And as part of the campaign, the party is inviting residents associations and individuals to suggest areas that might need monitoring via a crowdfunding page.

Secretary of Northants Green Party, Steve Miller, said: “Air pollution is an invisible killer. It is affecting the health of children across the town, and I think we all need to be better informed about the problem so that we can start to deal with it properly.”

Tony Clarke added: “Air pollution issues won’t fix themselves. We need a council that is serious about dealing with the problem, rather than adding to them with a raft of car-friendly policies.”

The worst place for nitrogen dioxide levels in the first set of results was found to be St James Road, by the Thomas Becket pub.

The Green Party recorded an average reading of 41.51 micrograms of nitrogen dioxide in every cubic metre of air - above the threshold set by the European Union.

A second set of measurements is now underway, with results due to be added in August.

The campaign aims to raise £500 over the next four weeks in order to spread the monitoring across the whole town.

For further details, head to the campaign website at http://northants.greenparty.org.uk/news

The crowdfunding page is available at; http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/northamptonshire-green-party-air-quality-testing