Air quality in north Oxfordshire is improving, resulting in the number of pollution hotspots being halved.

Cherwell District Council has approved a new air quality action plan, and agreed that Horsefair and North Bar in Banbury and Bicester Road in Kidlington no longer need to be air quality management areas.

Despite this, these areas are still highly affected by road traffic emissions, so the council will continue to monitor these areas as a priority.

Councillor Phil Chapman, portfolio holder for healthy and safe communities, said: "Air pollution is recognised as contributing to the onset of heart disease and cancer and particularly affects the most vulnerable in society: children, older people, and those living in less affluent areas.

"Working with our partners to improve air quality is therefore an important priority for this council."

He added: "In recent years, we have been supporting the take-up of electric vehicles and encouraging people to use active transport wherever possible.

"Although it is good to see air quality improving in some of the district’s worst-affected areas, our work to seek further improvements must continue."

The council makes use of diffusion tubes to measure air quality, recording data monthly.

Air quality management areas are determined by an area’s nitrogen dioxide levels, identified by standards set by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

For an area to lose its air quality management area status, its nitrogen dioxide emissions must remain below DEFRA limits for five years.