THE chronically filthy air of Winchester city centre has been highlighted by green campaigners.

An estimated 150 marched through the city centre on Sunday calling on the city council to take action over air pollution.

Organised by Winchester Friends of the Earth, many carried tombstones to represent the annual death toll of 51 people to which unclean air contributed.

They demanded the city council start to take the problem of air pollution seriously before even more people die.

The greens are angry that the council is poised to introduce a new parking strategy that sees new parking in the city centre.

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They started from the Discovery Centre, then marched down Jewry Street and the High Street to the Guildhall before ending at the City Museum.

Hazel Agombar, founder of the current branch of Winchester FoE, said: “We are delighted by the large number of people who turned out. We have been begging the council for eight years to do more to reduce air pollution and protect the health of people in Winchester. Hopefully this will give the council the jolt it needs.”

The pollution, mostly caused by road traffic, has been estimated by medical professionals to cause at least 40,000 early deaths per year in the UK. It is a major contributor to asthma and a significant contributor to heart disease, cancer and dementia.

FoE points out the council has failed in its duty to reduce air pollution below legal levels for the last seven years, as stipulated by its own Air Quality Management plan.

Instead, FoE says it has pursued policies to increase traffic and not done enough to encourage walking and cycling.

Cllr James Byrnes, the portfolio holder for transport, says he has to balance the environment with the economic vitality of the city centre.

The Business Improvement District has been pressing for new parking to replace the loss of the Friarsgate multi-storey car park which closed earlier this year.

Tory city councillors on the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Monday outvoted a Lib Dem proposal for a tougher policy on air quality.

Cllr Martin Tod, Lib Dem, proposed that it should be compulsory for all council proposals to report on their air quality impact.

He also proposed that the council’s new Air Quality Action Plan, due in March 2017, should have sufficient measures to cut pollution to safer levels by 2020.

Cllr Tod said: “Again and again, the Conservatives running the council have ignored air quality. It happened with Station Approach. It happened with the ‘pollution patio’ in St George’s Street.

“And it looks set to happen again with the proposed parking strategy. With 51 deaths a year in the Winchester district from air pollution, this can’t carry on.

“We’ve got to make it impossible to ignore air quality in council plans – as well as making sure that next year’s Air Quality Action Plan does enough to tackle it. That’s what we proposed, and it’s deeply disappointing – although not surprising – that the Conservatives voted it down.”