LIVING in Southampton is putting our health at risk – and that is official.

The naming and shaming of our city by the World Health Organisation (WHO) – as we report on page 5 today – is just the latest evidence that pollution here is out of control.

There have been plenty of previous warnings, all reported by this newspaper, but when the planet’s most influential body singles out Southampton we know it is serious.

Worse still, the WHO says it appears air pollution is getting worse.

It is putting residents – particularly children and elderly people – at risk of respiratory disease and other health problems such as heart disease, stroke and cancer.

The city’s congested roads must shoulder much of the blame for the poor quality of the air we breathe.

There has been much discussion over what can be done with a senior councillor even admitting publicly that Southampton had had a “wake-up call”

over air pollution.

But the time for talking is over. What we need now is action.