The joint investigation by Greenpeace’s Energydesk and The Guardian newspaper reveals that at least 2,092 education and childcare providers across England and Wales are within 150m of a road where the level of nitrogen dioxide from diesel traffic exceeds the legal limit of 40 micrograms per cubic metre of air. Of these, 1,013 are nurseries, many of which are in towns and cities outside London.
Greenpeace’s Energy desk mapped the locations of schools, colleges and Ofsted-registered childcare providers against the latest available Government estimates for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels on the major roads network.
The figures, which do not include private nurseries in Wales, have been released weeks ahead of the Government's legally mandated deadine to produce new plans for tackling the UK's dangerously poor air quality, after its existing strategy was found to be inadequate and 'overly optimistic'.
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