Revealed: The map that shows most of us are living in areas with 'unsafe' air pollution

By Tom Bawden

Two-thirds of the British population live in areas that breach the World Health Organisation’s air pollution safety limit, researchers have found.The most detailed study of air pollution ever undertaken finds that the problem goes far beyond major cities to encompass vast swathes of the rural areas.

It identifies a North-South divide - with the south much worst affected - and reveals huge areas of pollution spreading out for miles beyond London and Birmingham in particular and all along the East and South East of the country.