Thousands affected by dangerously high air pollution in Lancashire neighbourhoods

Analysis from Friends of the Earth, an environmental organisation, shows more than 36.1 million people in England and Wales, including 8 million children, were breathing air with hazardous levels of nitrogen dioxide in 2022.

It comes as the Government announced it was pushing back the deadline for several environmental policies such as the ban on sales of new diesel and petrol cars, which are significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions.

dangerous for children as it increases their risk of respiratory infection and may lead to poorer lung function in later life.

The data uses information from the census to divide the country into over 33,000 neighbourhood areas, each with between 1,000 and 3,000 people living there.

The analysis revealed 51 neighbourhoods in Preston (59)% were exposed to air pollution exceeding the World Health Organisation recommended safety limit.

This meant approximately 89,000 people were breathing polluted air in the area in 2022, which has been linked to up to 36,000 premature deaths every year in the UK.

There were 46 schools in the areas of Preston where the dirty air was recorded, affecting 20,000 children.

Chorey area

Nearly half of neighbourhoods in Chorley are exposed to dangerously high air pollution.

The analysis revealed 32 neighbourhoods in Chorley (49)% were exposed to air pollution exceeding the World Health Organisation recommended safety limit.

This meant approximately 55,000 people were breathing polluted air in the area in 2022, which has been linked to up to 36,000 premature deaths every year in the UK.

There were 31 schools in the areas of Chorley where the dirty air was recorded, affecting 12,000 children.

South Ribble

A third of neighbourhoods in South Ribble are exposed to dangerously high air pollution, a new analysis has found.

The analysis revealed 24 neighbourhoods in South Ribble (34)% were exposed to air pollution exceeding the World Health Organisation recommended safety limit.

This meant approximately 37,000 people were breathing polluted air in the area in 2022, which has been linked to up to 36,000 premature deaths every year in the UK.

There were 17 schools in the areas of South Ribble where the dirty air was recorded, affecting 7,700 children.

Friends of the Earth’s head of policy, Mike Childs, said: “It’s a national scandal that millions of people across the country live in areas where air pollution is double the safety level, with children, the elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions most at risk.

“Rishi Sunak’s back-pedalling on measures aimed at tackling poor air quality – such as funding better cycling provision and financial support and incentives to switch to cleaner cars – will simply prolong people’s misery."

Areas where the recommended limit was exceeded twice accounted for 9% of all neighbourhoods, with 5.9 million people breathing dangerously polluted air.