Up to 29,000 people are choking to death on polluted air every year across Britain, according to alarming new public health figures released yesterday.

Environmental campaigners responded by demanding strict policing of air pollution levels.

Researchers for Public Health England announced in the report that airborne particles of smog, dust and industrial contaminants were linked to 306,835 years of lost life nationwide — with Westminster faring worst of all.

The tiny toxic particles are known to penetrate the lungs’ spongy tissue and cross into the bloodstream, where they can cause heart and lung diseases, cancers, aggravate asthma and in some cases prove fatal.

Friends of the Earth Scotland’s Emilia Hanna said it was now clear that air pollution was a leading environmental health risk.

She said: “We need to see cleaner streets with less traffic congestion, more people walking and cycling to work and improved public transport.

“If we lived in cleaner cities where the air was safe to breathe these would be more pleasant places for us to spend time in, and we would live longer, healthier lives.”