SOUTHAMPTON residents are calling for a clean air zone in light of ‘colossally high levels’ of air pollution.

It comes as a residential street in the city recorded Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) levels at more than four times the legal UK limit.

Pumped out by burning fossil fuels, the gas can cause breathing problems, and heart and lung conditions.

Data from Southampton City Council showed a level of 211 micrograms NO2 in Brinton’s Road for January this year - the legal limit is an annual average 40 miligrams or 200 miligrams in one day.

Meanwhile, a reading taken on the A33 near Redbridge Community School hit 97 micrograms.

Based on data taken from between April 2020 and this January, the monthly average at the same spot was 101.91.

Speaking to the Daily Echo, Brinton’s Road resident Preet Kaur said: “It is very dangerous. I think the council should put in a clean air zone.”

Okpar Singh added: “I’d like a clean air zone but it’s the question of who is going to pay for it. It’s a bit of a catch-22. If it’s affordable then I’m all for it. Nothing ever gets done by the council.”

The council figures have been highlighted by the Western Docks Consultation Forum, which monitors air pollution across the city.

The forum blames the high levels primarily on stop-start traffic and the city’s docks.

Vice Chair Christopher Hinds said: “If you look back one month, specifically at Brinton’s Road, there’s been ten days out of 31 where they’ve been under the legal limit. Every other day, it’s been above that.”

He added: “I’ve recovered some colossally high levels at Brinton’s Road.

“Peak levels of 211, 176 and 142 and those levels are when people are commuting, so if you’re cycling to work, there’s about two or three hours in your day where you’re commuting in illegal levels. I’m coming up to 77. I’ve got daughters and granddaughters in the city, which concerns me more than myself.”

The council’s Clean Air Strategy for 2019-2025 wants to see nitrogen dioxide levels of 25 micrograms.

Plans to introduce a non-charging clean air zone in Southampton were approved in 2019. It aimed to bring air quality to within legal levels by 2020. Both the council and ABP Ports previously committed to reducing air pollution.