Shrewsbury's pollution above legal limit

Investigations carried out by Shropshire Council’s Environmental Health Team in Castle Gates/Castle Foregate area around the train station and Raven Meadows/Smithfield Road junction found that levels of nitrogen dioxide and other air pollutants exceeded limits.

Matthew Clark, Shropshire Council’s air quality lead in regulatory services, said: "Shropshire Council has declared five Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) since legislation came into force. As of May 2017 four of these AQMAs are still in force.

"At one location in Shrewsbury the national limit for nitrogen dioxide, the pollutant of concern, is exceeded by 50 per cent with monitoring finding levels of 60 units with a national target of 40units as an annual average.

"The traffic light junction around the train station is often congested with many stationary vehicles which increases the amount of vehicle emissions produced. Add to this an incline just after traffic lights as vehicles move up Castle Gates encouraging over-revving and work on engines, and we can see how pollutants in vehicle emissions can become elevated to levels in excess of those in other areas of the county."

The council is urging people to use alternative forms of transport such as cycling and Park and Ride to access the town centre to alleviate the problem.

Councillor Alan Mosley, leader of Shrewsbury Town Council said he would be inviting senior officers from Shropshire Council to a meeting 'at the earliest opportunity' to discuss the matter.

He added: "Something needs to be done about traffic congestion in Shrewsbury. I have discussed with officers the light phasing on the Chester Street junction to look at ways of improving traffic management. Further investigation needs to be done. We will be hearing whether of not the North West Relief Road offers any significant improvement to the situation shortly."

Mike Richardson, spokesman for the air quality group of Shrewsbury Friends of the Earth, said: "The council's strategy is not doing much to target town centre traffic. They are not being proactive with the problem. They need to restrict traffic through the town centre. We all agree how great Shrewsbury could be with more pedestrianisation and less traffic. It would bring the town centre alive. The council are scared to do anything major. The work at Meole Brace and the signposting will not do enough to reduce town centre traffic."

In Bridgnorth, the Whitburn Street/Pound Street junction and Mill Street/St Johns Street junction were also found to be above the limit.

Air pollution has been linked to asthma, chronic bronchitis, heart and circulatory disease, and cancer. A team from Imperial College London has discovered diesel fumes trigger a receptor in the airway, starting a chain reaction which causes nerves in the lungs to fire wrongly.