Poor air quality in Wiltshire means that residents and businesses need to change their travel habits to help combat the issue, a senior councillor has said.

Cllr Ian-Blair Pilling, the Wiltshire councillor with responsibility for public health, made the comments after it was revealed that pollution levels in the centre of Devizes are 'significant'.

Devizes is in the 50th percentile and exceeds three World Health Organisation limits.

There are also eight areas of the county that are undergoing intervention because of poor Nitrogen Dioxide levels.

READ MORE: Devizes residents at risk of stroke as town suffers unsafe levels of pollution.

This means that a health risk is posed to people, and the council is now stressing the scale of the problem.

Cllr Ian Blair-Pilling, Cabinet Member for Public Protection has said: “It must be noted that improvements in air quality are generally difficult to achieve as they rely on individuals, businesses and communities changing their travel behaviour."

High levels of pollution are also having a heavy impact on other areas. 

He added: “There are currently eight Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) in Wiltshire where there are exceedances of the UK air quality objective for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2).

"The relevant areas are in Bradford on Avon, Calne, Devizes, Marlborough, Salisbury (three) and Westbury."

NO2 stands for nitrogen dioxide, and millions of tons of this toxic gas are produced each year.

It is introduced to the environment largely from vehicle traffic and affects our health by diffusing into the cells which line the respiratory tract, according to Public Health England.

Wiltshire Council is monitoring air quality in over 80 locations across the county, and data from the sites are used to measure the annual levels of NO2 which are reported to Defra.

Cllr Blair-Pilling added: "Results currently show that Devizes is currently below the UK regulatory objective for NO2, which is the main concern and the reason for the Air Quality management area in Devizes.

“The Council adopted an Air Quality Strategy in November 2019 which provides high-level guidance to inform policy and direction across a range of council services with the aim of improving air quality and reducing air pollution levels below the national trigger levels... A more detailed county-wide Air Quality Action Plan is currently being developed and this will identify specific measures to improve air quality in the county’s AQMAs.”

But Graham Martin, of Sustainable Devizes, feels that more guidance is needed to address the issue.

He said: “There needs to be an alternative narrative which is based on reducing ’the dependency on cars’ with behaviour change to active travel, encouraging all local trips in Devizes to be made on foot, bike or micro vehicles and making that a pleasant experience.

“It will take 10 - 15 years and requires vision.

“This is very complex and the politicians can’t make it work by themselves.”