BAD news for hay fever sufferers in the Winchester area.

Air quality experts at the city council have confirmed that last week saw the highest pollen count in the city for five years.

The count hit a high of 467 on June 7 which smashes the "very high" limit of 150.

It means that hundreds of local people endured sneezing and running noses.

Pollen levels are monitored daily by environmental health staff throughout the summer as part of their overall air quality monitoring.

The information is passed to the National Pollen Research Unit and used to provide local and national predictions for hay fever sufferers.

Robert Heathcock, the council head of health and waste management, said it is well known that pollen levels increase significantly during the summer months.

"This result was still quite a shock. Levels are high across the South and will not reduce significantly until the weather breaks.

"We hope that our monitoring data and predictions can provide the information that hay fever sufferers need to help them cope.

"Monitoring is also an important part of our wider work on air quality, which includes future plans to reduce traffic pollution levels in the city centre as part of our 'Breath of Fresh Air' project."