A LIB-DEM councillor has claimed certain areas of Rochford could be at high risk of dangerous levels of air pollution.

Rochford district councillor for Sweyne Park and Grange, James Newport, is working with his party, Rochford District Residents’ Association and the Green Party to carry out air quality tests in areas that are not part of Rochford Council’s monitoring areas.

He said they have asked council three times, asking them to conduct air quality tests in the area but the council declined their request.

Mr Newport added: “We are running tests in areas including Warwick Lane, Eastwood Round, Hullbridge Road and London Road.

“We have been checking these areas since January and we will finish our assessments in December. These tests will determine if these areas are at risk of, or if they already have exceeded the acceptable levels of nitrogen dioxide. It’s important we make sure these areas are not breaking the limit.”

According to European Union law, an area should not exceed 40ug/m3 (micrograms per cubic meter of air) of nitrogen dioxide. Mr Newport said London Road, in particular, has a lot of traffic because there are two schools in the area.

He added: “The playgrounds in the two schools, Sweyne Park school and Glebe Primary, are at high risk of pollution because of high levels of traffic.

“If we are at risk of air pollution we will bring these results to council. I feel the council doesn’t have strong initiatives to reduce pollution in the district. Residents shouldn’t suffer from bad air quality.”

Councillor Adrian Eves, member of the Rochford District Residents’ Association, said: “We have a suspicion there’s a problem with the air quality in these areas based on the increased amount of traffic. We’re carrying out these tests to determine if these areas are indeed at risk.”

Rochford Council was contacted for a comment but did not respond before we went to press.