Two Sheffield streets in Clean Air Zone in top 10 most polluted in country
Two Sheffield streets are among the top 10 most polluted in the country despite being in the Clean Air Zone, new figures show.
Arundel Gate is fourth in the UK for nitrogen dioxide with 54.2 µg/m³ and Sheaf Street, which runs past Sheffield station, is eighth worst with 50.8 µg/m³.
Masshouse Lane in Birmingham is the most polluted in the country with 63.2 µg/m³ nitrogen dioxide. The legal annual limit is 40 µg/m³.
The figures are the annual average from 2024, the latest publicly available data from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs UK Air Local Air Quality Dashboard.
Sheffield’s Clean Air Zone was introduced in February 2023 and charges older diesel vans, buses, lorries and taxis for travelling on, or within, the inner ring road.
The report was supplied by SDVH, Self Drive Vehicle Hire.
James McNally, a spokesperson for SDVH, said: “Frequent traffic lights, buses stopping, delivery vans unloading and cars idling in queues all create the perfect conditions for emissions to build up.
“Improving traffic flow, investing in public transport and encouraging cleaner vehicles can all help. Even simple steps, like switching off engines while waiting or avoiding peak-hour bottlenecks, can make a noticeable difference. Cleaner air is possible, but it requires long-term planning rather than quick fixes.”
Arundel Gate is a major bus route. Sheaf Street is a busy two-lane road which catches pollution from the taxi rank and idling trains at Sheffield station.
In January, Sheffield Council said air pollution contributes to up to 500 deaths a year in Sheffield with children most at risk from air quality-related illnesses including strokes, lung cancer and cardiovascular disease.
But pollution is reducing, with all monitoring locations in the CAZ showing a reduction in nitrogen dioxide.
The authority’s 2025 annual air quality status report said there was one site exceeding the annual NO2 objective in 2024, compared to eight in 2022.
It adds: “One key site, which is out of local air quality management process due to being on private land, is the train station, where concentrations remain well above the annual objectives.”
It goes on: “Using 2024 data, projecting forward using data from our monitoring locations, it is suggested that NO2 concentrations at some locations will continue to be problematic beyond 2024.”