Air pollution causes one in 20 deaths in Burnley, new figures show on National Clean Air Day

It was responsible for 5% of the deaths of people in Burnley aged over 30 in 2022, Office for Health Improvement and Disparities figures show. This was up from 4.6% the year before, but was below pre-pandemic levels of 6%.

Today is National Clean Air Day, which is an opportunity for people to write to their local councillors and MPs to express concerns regarding their local area's air quality.

The Government says it wants to halve pollution levels of fine particles to reach an annual mean concentration of 10 micrograms per cubic metre by 2040.

But the World Health Organization's current advice says this figure should be no more than five micrograms per cubic metre.

Imogen Martineau, head of UK portfolio at the Clean Air Fund, said policymakers must work towards the WHO's air quality guidelines, adding: "It’s time to recognise the co-benefits which clean air can bring – better health, action on climate change, and improved economies."

Larissa Lockwood, director of clean air at Global Action Plan, said providing people with greener travel options and phasing out wood burning in urban areas would help improve air quality.

"No one should have their life cut short because they do not have access to clean air."

A government spokesperson said it has made "significant progress improving air quality since 2010.

"We have delivered significant reductions in emissions – with fine particulate matter falling by 24%, and nitrogen oxides down by 48%.

"We also met our targets to reduce emissions for all five key pollutants in the latest reporting year."