A city-wide traffic monitoring exercise takes place this week in Liverpool as the council develops its air quality plan.

From today (February 25) 40 cameras will count the amount of traffic, the type of vehicles and engine types on major routes into the city using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology.

It forms part of a £1.1m programme funded by the government which also includes installing air quality monitoring stations and updating modelling data for transport in the city region.

In 2017, Mayor Joe Anderson said the authority would prioritise walking, cycling, electric vehicles and clean fuels to reduce the impact of air pollution, which is estimated to contribute to 230 deaths in the city each year.

The council is in the process of changing to a diesel-free fleet including purchasing new waste collection vehicles, has started installing 100 electric vehicle charging points and banned taxis from retro-fitting higher polluting engines.

Cllr James Noakes, cabinet member for highways, transport and streetscene, said: ‘Liverpool’s a growing city and, as with other cities, we have high levels of traffic and it causes around 70% of air pollution.

‘The quality of air we breathe affects our health and wellbeing and we are all affected by it, particularly children and the elderly, and long-term exposure can contribute to heart disease, stroke and lung diseases like asthma.

Read more: Liverpool launch city-wide air quality monitoring scheme