AIR quality in Leicester continues to improve, with figures from 2024 showing air pollution at some of the lowest levels ever recorded at local hotspots.
Annual averages from 2024 (the most recent data available) show that for the third year running Leicester was fully compliant with all national air quality objectives for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (both PM10 and PM2.5).
Over the last ten years, annual levels of NO2 – one of the key pollutants that local authorities are required to monitor – have fallen by an average of around 45 per cent across. This is recorded across the city’s network of air quality monitoring stations at five key locations designated as air quality management areas.
Current national guidelines set an annual average limit value of 40 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3) for NO2 in the air.
In 2024, the average levels across the city’s five monitoring stations was 26 µg/m3.
At Vaughan Way – one of the city’s busiest roads – average NO2 levels for 2024 were 33µg/m3 compared to 51µg/m3 in 2014.
At Abbey Lane, NO2 levels were down from 35µg/m3 in 2014 to 20µg/m3 in 2024; Melton Road saw a drop from 43µg/m3 in 2014 to 29µg/m3 last year; and, at St Matthews Way, a reduction from 45µg/m3 to 30µg/m3 has been achieved over the last ten years.
And at Glenhills Way, annual levels in 2024 were 19µg/m3, the lowest level ever recorded at any of the city’s five monitoring stations.
Leicester remains compliant with national annual limits for all currently stated pollutants, including PM 10 and PM 2.5. In 2024, annual average limits of PM10 were recorded as 17µg/m3 across the city. The national annual limit is currently 40µg/m3.
Cllr Geoff Whittle, assistant city mayor for environment and transport, said: “We’re very proud of the significant and continual improvements we have seen in air quality across the city in recent years.
“Since the launch of our first Air Quality Action Plan we have seen a huge reduction in air pollution. It is very encouraging that Leicester has now been fully complaint with national limits for all pollutants for three years running, but we know there is still more to be done.
“We remain committed to further reducing levels of harmful air pollution to help positively impact on the health and wellbeing of everyone who lives, works or spends time in Leicester.”
Leicester City Council has also now published its new air quality action plan, which covers the period 2025 to 2030.
The revised plan outlines measures needed to further improve air quality in Leicester and aims to build on the significant progress made since the launch of the city’s first Air Quality Action Plan in 2015.
It sets out proposed measures for consideration under the following five broad theme areas:
- Air quality monitoring, public awareness and engagement
- Promoting, supporting and encouraging sustainable transport
- Reducing emissions from transport
- Optimising traffic management
- Development control and regulatory services
Actions include maintaining, expanding and enhancing the city’s air quality monitoring network to identify and understand pollution hotspots, enable targeted interventions and support awareness raising campaigns with local schools, communities and businesses.
The city council also aims to expand further the growing network of safe and attractive routes for walkers, wheelers and cyclists, as well as continuing to invest in the city’s bus service improvement plan which could make every bus in the city electric by 2030.
Along with providing and improving infrastructure to encourage more people to use sustainable transport, the effective management of traffic flow will help cut congestions and contribute directly to further air quality improvements.
And, as a planning and regulatory authority, the council will also ensure air quality impacts are considered in the planning process, continue to control domestic and industrial emissions as far as possible and help mitigate the impact of future growth on the city’s air quality.
All local authorities with a designated air quality management area are required to produce and publish an air quality action plan as part of their statutory duties under The Environment Act 2021.
Leicester’s annual air quality figures for 2024 were ratified by experts at Imperial College London as required by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).