Mayor Khan to double London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone

In his first key policy announcement, new mayor of London Sadiq Khan has revealed that he intends to double the size of London’s clean air charging zone in order to combat the city’s air pollution. The new proposals extend the zone from the north to south circular, rather than just focussing on the existing congestion charge area. Under the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) initiative, drivers of 2.5m of the most polluting vehicles will be forced to pay a £12.50 charge which is distinct from the congestion charge. The ULEZ scheme may also be implemented in 2019, a year earlier than originally planned. Last week, the World Health Organisation found that London exceeded guideline levels for two separate forms of particulate pollution.

It’s perhaps no surprise that Port Talbot, home to one of Europe’s biggest steelworks with thousands of tonnes of iron ore imported to its docks every year, tops the list of the UK’s most polluted towns and cities.

But Eastbourne, home to the women’s tennis tournament and located at the end of the South Downs national park, is not an obvious candidate for the top 10 of the worst UK towns and cities for two tiny types of particulate pollution.

However the south coast town is the third worst in the UK for PM2.5s, particulates 2.5 microns across that penetrate deep into our respiratory systems, and seventh worst for the larger PM10 pollution, according to a new database by the World Health Organisation.

Gary Fuller, an air quality expert at King’s College London explained that PM2.5 pollution in the UK broadly runs in a band from south-east to north-west England, and that proximity to other polluted areas is a big factor.

“A lot of PM2.5s has a long residence time in the air, a week or more, therefore it’s not just what you generate locally, it’s all the other cities around you.”



Eastbourne is not far from polluted London - fifth worst for both PM10s and PM2.5s - but being next to the English channel is also relatively close to one of the most densely populated parts of continental Europe.

Port Talbot on the other hand comes top for worst PM10 pollution - followed by Stanford-Le-Hope in Essex, Glasgow and Leeds - but only 14th worst for PM2.5s. The difference, in this case, can be explained by industrial activity.

“It’s the massive steelworks, a lot of what they experience there is not small particles from combustion and furnaces, but larger particles [ie the PM10s] ... from the handling of lots of material on the site. They import a lot of iron ore and move it around the site. All of that activity contributes to larger particles, not smaller ones,” said Fuller.

Across the UK, only 11 of the 51 cities measured meet the WHO’s guideline limit for PM2.5s. On the less harmful PM10s, the picture is better, with only 10 of the 51 breaching the WHO guidelines.

The cleanest place in both lists is Inverness, while Newcastle and Sunderland, both former industrial heartlands, feature near the top of cleanest places for both PM10s and PM2.5s.

Air pollution in UK cities and towns