Air pollution in Sefton: 11 neighbourhoods with the worst air quality, including Aintree and Orrell

Breathing in dirty air can increase the risk of respiratory infections, heart disease and lung cancer, and concern over these health risks has prompted many cities across the UK to introduce or plan low emission zones.

The Indices of Multiple Deprivation, published by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, measures local deprivation levels by analysing various factors affecting communities, such as income, health, crime and pollution levels.

- These are the Liverpool neighbourhoods with the worst air quality

- These are the Liverpool neighbourhoods with the best air quality

The pollution data, published in 2019, estimates the concentration of four pollutants – nitrogen dioxide, benzene, sulphur dioxide and particulates – all of which can cause ill health. The higher the score, the higher the levels of air pollution in the local area. The figures show wide geographical variations in how clean the air is around the country.

Holborn, St Giles and Bloomsbury South in Camden was found to have the worst air pollution levels in the country with a score of 1.90 – six times greater than the Isles of Scilly which had the lowest levels of air pollution at 0.32.

In Sefton, around 1/4 of neighbourhoods had air pollution scores below the national average, but which were the worst? Here we reveal the 11 areas in Sefton with the highest levels of air pollution.