Bradford has a long and troubled history with the issue of air pollution. In the middle of the nineteenth century it was regarded as one of the smokiest places in Britain, with row upon row of mill and factory chimneys churning out soot and a dreadful toll of deaths from chest diseases.

There were numerous efforts over the decades to try to improve the health of the district but the city’s politicians often gave the issue a low priority and were sometimes seen to be unwilling to take on the big factory bosses, presumably for fear of damaging the local economy.

So it’s good to see Bradford Council taking seriously the district’s substantially higher than average death rate from certain types of lung disease by launching a new Low Emission Strategy. Traffic fumes and exhaust emissions are blamed for the air quality problems which also cause high levels of asthma.

Action must be taken but there are three key questions: how much will it all cost, where’s the money coming from in these straitened times and are the Council’s tactics the right ones?

One of the best ways to cut vehicle pollution is to get traffic moving freely rather than forcing it to sit in lengthening queues, while lanes sit empty awaiting occasional buses, in the spurious belief that that will drive people out of their cars.

The Clean Air Act of 1956 had a huge effect and by the 1970s Bradford was a much healthier place. Today’s Council cannot hope to have the same impact until it sorts out what is one of the worst road networks of any major city.