There has been a major fall in pollution in Putney High Street, according to provisional data from Wandsworth Council’s monitoring stations.

According to the council: “Between February and June this year the EU’s hourly nitrogen dioxide (NO2) objective was exceeded six times at the kerbside pollution monitor, compared to 742 times during the same six month period in 2016 and 640 times in 2015.

“The council’s other high street monitoring station, which is mounted to a building façade further from the traffic, recorded zero hourly pollution episodes since the start of February.

“This compares to 200 last year and 135 in 2015.”

The provisional figure this year represents a 99 per cent fall of pollution episodes compared with the same period in 2012.

Wandsworth Times:

Deputy council leader Jonathan Cook said: “These provisional results are encouraging but our goal is to meet the EU pollution limit and we’re not there yet.

“It looks like our campaign to ban polluting buses from Putney High Street has had a major impact and our ban on daytime deliveries could also be a significant factor is cutting the congestion which contributes to pollution build ups.”

The fall in pollution coincides with the introduction of cleaner buses along the street.

Mayor Sadiq Khan announced in March that Putney would be the first Low Emission Bus Zone in a bid to “tackle toxic air”.

Modern, cleaner buses with Euro 6 diesel engines that were being used on the G1 route that runs from Streatham to Battersea via Tooting and Clapham Junction were moved to the clean zone.

However, the older, more polluting buses were merely been switched with buses on other routes nearby.

Cllr Cook added: “We can’t accept older polluting buses simply being switched to other routes and we want assurances from the Mayor that he has stopped this divisive policy.

“Trading one community’s health for another’s is wrong and we want to be sure that polluting buses are being taken off our streets altogether.”

A spokesperson for the Mayor of London, said: “It is really encouraging to see that the since the introduction of the Mayor’s Low Emission Bus Zone in March there has been a dramatic reduction in pollution levels on Putney High Street, improving the health and wellbeing of people in the local area.

“These figures show that the Mayor’s plans to clean up London’s air, including introducing Low Emission Bus Zones, are making a real difference.

“As part of these bold plans, TfL is in the process of ensuring that all of the dirtiest and most polluting buses are removed from the streets of London.”