Mayor defending clean air zone says pollution is 'killing our families'

He spoke out in defence of the scheme, which imposes daily charges on the owners of buses, vans, heavy goods vehicles and taxis that are driven in the city centre but do not meet emissions standards. It does not apply to cars and private motorbikes.

The Labour mayor said he will “support any serious plan” to tackle air pollution and will not “hide behind the fact” that he is not responsible for the scheme.

Sheffield City Council, which launched the clean air zone (CAZ) on February 27, said it raised just over £210,000 in charges and fines in its first month of operation.

In a statement, Mr Coppard said: “Polluted air does huge harm. Ultimately it kills people, probably about one in 20 people in South Yorkshire.

"If the water coming out of our taps killed that many people there would rightly be a national outcry.

“There is strong evidence air pollution increases the risk of heart disease, lung disease and stroke.

“It impacts health at every stage of life, including unborn babies. Children are most vulnerable, mainly because their lungs are too immature to get rid of the toxins.

“According to evidence given to the Chief Medical Officer for England, at the lowest estimate, air pollution causes between 5 per cent and 7 per cent of deaths in England. It’s killing our families and our friends.

“Looking at South Yorkshire alone, at the lower estimate, 728 people died from air pollution in 2021. At the upper estimate, that figure was 1,020.“

He added: “The more we learn about air pollution, the more we realise how deadly are its effects. That's why it's right to act.”

The Government ordered council to set up the zone, which is monitored by a network of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras, to cut harmful nitrogen dioxide emissions in Sheffield.

Owners of the worst-polluting vans and taxis are charged £10 a day to drive in the zone, while those with coaches, buses and lorries that do not meet emissions standards must pay £50 a day.

Similar zones have also been set up in cities such as Bradford, Birmingham and Bath.

But in Leeds, plans for a £29m clean air zone were scrapped after the Leeds City Council warned it had “no legal authority” to go ahead with the project.

After several delays, a council official wrote to the Government in October 2021 and said the CAZ should be dropped, because the amount of nitrogen dioxide pollution on key roads was within the Government’s legal limit, following a significant reduction.