IT’S the hard-hitting message that drivers of a busy road will see every time they enter the city.

“Welcome to Southampton - roads so polluted they’ll leave you breathless.”

Plastered on a giant billboard on Bevois Valley Road, the poster aims to shame the city for its “dangerously high” pollution levels.

But the sign, put up this week on behalf of clean air initiative #HelpBritainBreathe, has received mixed reviews.

Some have even accused it of driving down Southampton.

Conservative leader at Southampton City Council, Jeremy Moulton, pictured below, was one of those to criticise the sign.

The Freemantle councillor said: “I think it’s touching on a very relevant issue but I don’t know how helpful it is.

“The city is very aware of the problem and the government is very aware of the problem.

“Everyone locally in terms of decision-making is aware of it, city councillors, MPs and the port, who have been putting in their own provisions.

“There are lots of things happening.”

Councillor Moulton added: “My ward has the worst polluted area in the city, in Western Approach, and I haven’t been contacted by this group.

“I think the campaign would be better off engaging with members and officials and working with them.”

The sign was installed in conjunction with the launch of a public health awareness scheme ‘#HelpBritainBreathe’ in support of the Healthy Air Campaign.

It is backed by the British Lung Foundation and environmental law charity ClientEarth – who has twice successfully sued the government over its pollution plans.

Other backers include Campaign for Better Transport, Doctors Against Diesel, Friends of the Earth and The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health.

Campaigners hope the billboard initiative will boost the public’s interest in the threat posed by air pollution.

Campaigner Andrea Lee said: “It’s worrying how many people living in cities and towns like Southampton are unaware of how they and their families are affected by the dirty air they breathe every day.

“The billboards have a clear message which draws attention to a serious public health issue.”

Southampton was chosen as one of the five areas targeted in the marketing campaign as it is currently one of the worst polluted cities in the UK.

As previously reported by the Echo, Southampton was among more than 40 places across the UK named by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for breaching safety levels in 2016.

The ranking relates to the measurement of pollution known as ‘particulate matter’ (PMs).

Southampton was one of 11 urban areas across the UK and Ireland to have breached the safe limit.

Alongside this, Public Health England figures also previously revealed that the percentage of adult deaths in the city due to air pollution in 2011 was 6.3 per cent – the highest in the South East.

As a result, Southampton will be one of only five cities in England required to introduce new low emission zones by 2020.

It will mean tolls for high-polluting vehicles who wish to enter the pre-designated areas.

The other four cities required to create the zones are Birmingham, Leeds, Derby, and Nottingham.

Southampton City Council cabinet member for sustainable living, councillor Christopher Hammond, is the man leading the authority’s creation of a clean air zone.

He said: “I’m supportive in the sense that it will raise the public awareness of air pollution.

“As a council we are aware of the issue. We aren’t trying to hide from it.

“We know we have to work hard to address the problems.”

He added that alongside the clean air zone, the city council was bringing in a number of new measures.

This includes building a network of electric charging points across the city, to begin in early 2018, and a commitment for 20 per cent of the authority’s vehicles to be electric by 2020.

Liz Batten, co-founder of pressure group Clean Air Southampton, backed the sign.

She said: “I think it’s brilliant.

“I think it’s really attention-grabbing in a busy road in the city.”

The billboard is set to remain in the city for two weeks.