AIR pollution that blanketed Hampshire yesterday will continue to kill tens of thousands of people nationally if nothing is done to cut emissions, environmental campaigners are warning.

A hazy pall of dirty air was clearly visible yesterday as heath chiefs put the county on a health alert, with warm, sunny weather mixing with Saharan dust and pollution from both the UK and Europe.

Responding to the air pollution incident, Friends of the Earth’s South East campaigner Brenda Pollack said polluted air was placing extra pressure on our already overstretched NHS.

She said: “Ministers must protect our health by acting urgently on the main cause of air pollution, which is too much dirty traffic.

“We need to see less traffic and more walking, cycling and public transport use. This will improve health and enable us all to breathe more easily.

“Action on air pollution will also help us to stop dangerous climate change – the UK should focus on this rather than giving its support to dirty oil and gas projects that threaten our climate and pollute our air.”

Defra said the pollution levels were moderate to high.

However, health services across Hampshire reported no significant difference in the number of patients presenting themselves with breathing issues.

The Met Office said last night that the pollution was expected to clear by today.

A spokeswoman said: “We have a front moving in that will bring a little bit of rain and some cooler weather, with temperatures dropping back to what we should be expecting for this time of year, round about 11C and 12C.”