England suffering dramatic pollution

More than 90% of England is now affected by some form of pollution, a study has found.

Rapidly expanding road networks and a sharp rise in flights have led to a dramatic jump in air, noise and light pollution in the past decade.

London and the South East are the worst hit areas with Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Sheffield also badly contaminated.

Planned road developments are expected to exacerbate the problem over the next few years by generating even more noise and fumes across large swathes of the country.

The number of people affected by unacceptable levels of noise from air traffic is also predicted to double by 2030 as passenger numbers soar.

Only one tenth of the country now experiences a truly dark night after light pollution rose by a quarter between 1993 and 2000.

Even on the clearest nights, less than half of homes in England can now see the Milky Way.

Experts blame it on an increase in street lamps, floodlights at sports venues and security lights fitted on private homes.

The study by Country Life magazine is the first to assess the combined impact of air, noise and light pollution.

It found Newcastle, Bristol and Norwich also suffer from exceptionally high levels of pollution.

Most watched News videos