'More urgency' needed in government response to clean up toxic air, says mother of Ella Kissi-Debrah

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The mother of a young girl from South London who died after being exposed to 'excessive' levels of air pollution said there needed to be 'more urgency' in Government measures to sort out the problem.

Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah said the country was facing a public health crisis and the public needed to know what they were breathing in.

Rosamund's daughter, Ella, died of a fatal asthma attack after being exposed to toxic air and was the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of death.

An extra £6 million was announced last week for local councils to improve air quality, with work underway to set new air pollution targets, a step forward says Rosamund but she is still concerned.

"The Coroner was very clear the British public need to know what they are breathing in... Yes they [the government] are going to come up with targets but I'm worried they are not going to be string enough - I am really, really worried about that," Rosamund said.

While London has some of the most polluted roads in the county the are also high levels of pollution in the countryside and suburbs too.

"It affects everyone, from your first breath to your last breath and it affects every organ in our body so it can have quite a big impact," said Andrew Grieve, air quality analyst from Imperial College.

Figures from Imperial College show that toxic air contributes to the deaths of 4,000 Londoners each year and some causes of pollution are more obvious that others.

They range from vehicle exhausts, manufacturing and factories - and also agriculture, farming and heating our homes.

"This is about health and right now we have a public health crisis that's why this is so, so, so important," Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah said.