'We're moving out of city because of air pollution'

A mum has described wanting to "get out" of coastal city because of the impact of air pollution on her family.

Portsmouth is one of the most densely populated outside London and has experienced levels of nitrogen dioxide higher than the legal limit.

Kelly Inch said she has been forced to move as she believes traffic fumes are contributing to her daughter's asthma.

It comes as a new body, Clean Air South, has been set up to bring together researchers and NHS organisations to find new approaches to dealing with air pollution.

Air pollution is linked to up to 43,000 deaths a year in the UK and is the largest environmental impact on health - with children, the elderly and clinically vulnerable, most affected.

There is strong evidence to show it accelerates the progression of coronary heart disease, stroke, respiratory diseases, dementia and lung cancer.

In Portsmouth it has been linked to 6.2% of deaths, according to Public Health England.

After living in the city for 13 years, Ms Inch said she has been forced to move because of the "awful" air quality.

"You can actually taste it in the back of your throat.

"It's disgusting, when you are standing there, you've got people going past with their babies - their babies' lungs have got to breathe all this in."

She is hoping to move within weeks, having found another council house tenant who will swap and allow her and her family to move to Waterlooville, six miles away.

"It'll be better for her and the other children. There'll be more open greenery space, you can smell the fresh air, you can smell the grass - you can't smell none of that down here. Fingers crossed that I get them out of this.

Her daughter Lou is severely asthmatic and has been admitted to hospital annually since she was a child for oxygen treatment.

"The air out there is car fumes, so when I do breathe in oxygen, I breathe in bad oxygen," she said.

The city council implemented its Clean Air Zone in 2021 which sees fines for high-polluting HGVs, buses, coaches, taxis and private hire vehicles when entering the city centre.

It also recently launched a We Need Clean Air campaign to encourage walking and cycling and reduce vehicle emissions.

Clean Air South, has been set up to bring together university researchers and medical practitioners to better understand air pollution and its impact on health across southern England.

One of its first events, held at Chilworth near Southampton, heard from clean air campaigner Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah.

Her nine-year-old daughter Ella died in 2013, with her death attributed to illegal levels of air pollution near their home in south London.

She described air pollution as a "silent killer".

"If we clean up the air it wouldn’t be such a burden on the NHS.

"My daughter died a horrible death and children continue to die from asthma. It is our right to breathe clean air and we will keep battling to be heard."

Clean Air South has commissioned a landmark report which it is hoped will provide opportunities for policy makers in the region to develop strategies to improve air quality.

Christine McGrath, of Wessex Health Partners said polluted air was a "major threat to health in the south".

"With the right research in place, and by linking people together, we can support policymakers to enact bold policies which drive change and protect our most vulnerable residents."

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