Air pollution: UK government loses third court case as plans ruled 'unlawful'

High court says approach to tackling pollution in 45 local authority areas is 'not sufficient' and orders urgent changes

For the third time, the UK government has been slammed by the courts for failing to produce an adequate plan to tackle the growing problem of air pollution, in a landmark judgment that will force ministers back to the drawing board in their efforts to clean up dirty urban air.

The high court ruled that the government's current policy on air pollution was "unlawful", and ordered changes. Air pollution has become a leading test case for environmental legal activism in the UK, as scientists have found as many as 40,000 people a year are dying from dirty air across the country.