The Tories have completely failed to reduce deadly air pollution, with new official figures showing yesterday that air quality at the end of last year was so bad it breached the law in 37 out of 43 zones nationwide — the same as in 2015.

The Tories have repeatedly been sued by law firm ClientEarth for their shockingly inadequate air pollution plans — and have been repeatedly ordered by judges to sort them out.

Air pollution in places including Bristol, Teesside and Portsmouth has even increased since 2013. In a few areas, levels have dipped, but they remain well above the legal limit.

People’s lives are shortened by air pollution, which causes the equivalent of an extra 40,000 deaths a year in this country.

ClientEarth James Thornton called on ministers to “take responsibility and help people move to cleaner forms of transport.”

However, the Tories have been doing precisely the opposite — bringing in a £15 billion road-building programme despite all the evidence showing that new roads mean more car journeys and worse pollution.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan revealed yesterday that 95 per cent of the capital’s population had to breathe air containing illegal levels of the PM2.5 pollutant — which comes largely from car brake and tyre dust and is most responsible for damaging health.

Mr Khan called this statistic a “damning indictment of the toxic air that all Londoners are forced to breathe every day.”

Yet the mayor himself plans to build the Silvertown Tunnel, which will increase traffic and pollution, and has scuppered several schemes that would have cut car journeys.

“The government should be investing in rail electrification, electric buses and networks of routes for walking and cycling,” said Green London Assembly member Caroline Russell.