Cars could be banned from driving on streets where schools are located under a radical plan being pushed as a way to improve air quality in cities.
It's been suggested that one way to tackle the issue could be to close school streets for through traffic at the beginning and end of the school day.
Councillors in Portsmouth have reportedly been urged to introduce the ban, after the city came under fire for its dangerously-high pollution levels.
Leeds, Birmingham, Derby, Nottingham and Southampton are all required to introduce a Clean Air Zone by 2020, in an effort to tackle pollution levels and Portsmouth could do the same.
As well as lowering pollution levels this would also be safer for young children crossing these roads but it would prevent drivers from dropping off and picking up their children in certain areas.
Talking to The Metro about pollution in the city of Portsmouth, the group's coordinator Rachel Hudson said: ‘One of the solutions have been looking at school streets, which close for through traffic at the beginning and end of the school day.
‘Residents can still get through. ‘This means that children will be safer from traffic and pollution.’
Several other authorities in the UK already operate permanent ‘School Streets’ including Edinburgh, Hackney and Southwark.
