Councils given clean air deadline

Councils have been given seven years to clean up their air with Parliamentary approval of new air quality regulations this week. They now have a duty to take action to stop levels of seven key air pollutants from breaching limits set by the Government.

Councils are being asked to collaborate with their neighbours in setting up Air Quality Management Areas to cover the places with Britain's dirtiest air. If they fail to deliver by 2005, the law gives ministers powers to step in and order the necessary actions to curb pollution.

In the main, councils are expected to use existing powers to find ways of bringing air quality up to standard. Emergency road closures and vehicle bans are not anticipated.

Councils have recently been given legal powers to stop and test vehicles at the roadside, to see if their exhaust emissions meet the legal standard. If not, drivers can be issued with fixed penalty notices. But council staff will have to accompanied by police officers when they do this.

The Ministry of Defence has applied for government permission to decommission and remove a small nuclear reactor located near the heart of London. The reactor in Greenwich's Royal Naval College, known as Jason, has been used for more than 30 years to train nuclear submarine officers.