AIR pollution limits are being breached in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, Friends of the Earth (FoE) Scotland said yesterday.

The campaign group said the Scottish government is failing to deliver its own Cleaner Air for Scotland strategy and comply with Scottish and European statutory limits on two toxic pollutants.

Nitrogen oxide and particulate matter are caused by road traffic. The breaches of statutory limits for these pollutants were recorded at monitoring stations in the three cities.

Air pollution has been linked to cancer, heart attacks, strokes and restricted development in unborn babies and children.

Gavin Thomson of FoE Scotland said: “With streets in Scotland’s cities still at illegal levels of air pollution, the Scottish government’s Cleaner Air for Scotland strategy has clearly failed to deliver.

“The current review of this strategy needs to result in a transformation in transport if we are to clean up Scotland’s air so that it is safe for people.”