A VILLAGE choked with traffic fumes will be constantly monitored for pollution.

The area between Broad Oak and Mill Hill in Botley was designated an “Air Quality Management Area”

earlier this year because of high levels of chemicals in the atmosphere.

Now Eastleigh Borough Council will spend £9,000 on hi-tech equipment to give “real time data” on the levels of nitrogen dioxide found along the route – which will then be published on various websites.

New signs warning drivers of the impact they are having on the environment will also be put up.

The new spending plans come as Business Secretary Vince Cable backed the campaign for a Botley bypass during a visit.could alleviate traffic and pollution problems.

Eastleigh Borough Council has committed to a five-year plan to reduce pollutants by 20 per cent – but it suffered a setback when Hampshire County Council ruled out the proposed Botley bypass.

As previously reported, Eastleigh Borough Council is now planning to spend £50,000 on an “engineering and feasibility”

study looking at the need for the bypass.

Chairman of Hedge End, West End and Botley Local Area Committee, Councillor Rupert Kyrle, said evidence from the new equipment will also support the case for a bypass.

He said: “There’s quite a lot of evidence out there showing that air pollution can have detrimental effects on certain groups of people, so I think pollution is a serious concern.

“The county council have said they don’t support a bypass but with this continuing monitoring we will be able to back up the case to ask them to look at it again.

“It will also give us a far better, more accurate picture on an ongoing basis about the issues and when the worst times are for air pollution during the day.”

Councillors on the Hedge End, West End and Botley Local Area Committee voted to allocate the funding for the equipment at a meeting this week.

Campaigners and residents say a road around the village