Car pollution limits breached in Llandeilo

Levels of nitrogen dioxide in Llandeilo have exceeded national limits

Air pollution on a main road through a rural town in Carmarthenshire is exceeding national limits.

Exhaust fumes are being blamed for the problem in Llandeilo, which may be made an Air Quality Management Area.

Local people say they have called for a bypass for 40 years as the only way to solve the issue on what is a main route between north and south Wales.

Carmarthenshire council said it was working to address exhaust pollution in the town.

Llandeilo councillor Ieuan Jones said the breaches were not a surprise.

"The problem of air pollution has been with us for a long time and has been one of the main reasons for trying to get a bypass - we have been trying for 40 years," he said.

"Traffic through Rhosmaen Street is a very serious issue - it's a narrow road through the middle of the town.

"It's full of shops that attract visitors but the weight of traffic is such it's damaging the buildings.

"You get these enormous trucks going through on a regular basis."

All councils in the UK must monitor air quality to ensure it remains within national targets, where it fails they must designate Air Quality Management Areas.

There are currently eight councils in Wales with such areas, mainly urban, but this is the first in Carmarthenshire.

The county's executive board will hear at meeting on Monday levels of nitrogen dioxide exceeded national limits during tests in 2010.

The council will have to draw up an action plan to reduce pollution through measures such as improved traffic management, planning and parking rules.

Executive board member for transport Philip Hughes said: "There has been concern in Llandeilo that increasing traffic through the community is causing air quality problems and that is what we are moving towards addressing."

He said the council "fully supports" the case for the construction of a bypass and is urging the Welsh Assembly Government to proceed as quickly as possible with construction.

But he said it would require the availability of funding which had been "significantly reduced" as a result of the UK Government Comprehensive Spending Review.