AIR pollution causes one in 20 deaths in Bradford, new figures show.

Office for Health Improvement and Disparities statistics show air pollution was responsible for 5.5 per cent of the deaths of people in Bradford aged over 30 in 2022.

This was up from 5.1 per cent the year before, but was below pre-pandemic levels of 6.5 per cent.

The data comes ahead of National Clean Air Day on Thursday, which is an opportunity for people to write to their politicians to express concerns regarding their local area's air quality.

Bradford Council said it was working to help make the air cleaner.

A spokesperson for the authority said: "Bradford has a Clean Air Zone to improve air quality and to encourage cleaner vehicles to enter the city.

"Every ward in Bradford will benefit from cleaner air.

"There will be more electric taxis and the number of non-compliant vans, lorries, taxis and buses will fall.

"As a result, air quality will improve across the district, both inside and outside the Clean Air Zone boundary.

"Health research in Bradford has indicated that the largest health benefits will be felt by the most disadvantaged communities in the city.

"The Bradford Council Clean Air Plan will bring levels of nitrogen dioxide within legal limits five years more quickly than without intervention."

The spokesperson added: "Cleaner air has health benefits for everyone, but especially for the elderly and young children, as well as those with existing health conditions.

"Pollutants in the air that have been traced to vehicles can lead to respiratory infections, decreased lung function, heart problems, and can worsen symptoms of asthma.

"Removing or limiting the number of polluting vehicles that can enter a city or town centre will improve its air quality, having a positive impact on the health of those living and working there."

A Government spokesperson said it has made "significant progress improving air quality since 2010".

They said: "We have delivered significant reductions in emissions - with fine particulate matter falling by 24 per cent, and nitrogen oxides down by 48 per cent.

"We also met our targets to reduce emissions for all five key pollutants in the latest reporting year."

The Government said it wants to halve pollution levels of fine particles to reach an annual mean concentration of 10 micrograms per cubic metre by 2040.

The World Health Organization's current advice says this figure should be no more than five micrograms per cubic metre.