Councils in 33 towns and cities, including Liverpool and Luton, have failed to protect the public from polluting factories by not doing regular tests on air quality, the Department of Environment has revealed.
The councils are "named and shamed" by the ministry for only checking air quality once every two years instead of every six months. The authorities, however, are paid by firms to monitor air quality outside premises.
Checks in England and Wales cover 18,200 premises including chemical, asbestos, glass and rubber factories, iron and steel foundries, incineration plants, waste oil burners and petrol stations.
From 2004, a European directive will oblige councils to give up-to-date air pollution figures. Michael Meacher, the Environment minister, has already been insisting that two checks each year on factories.
The councils and port authorities with the lowest number of checks include Gosport, Manchester port harbour authority, Rutland, Barnet, East Devon, Guildford, Southend-on-Sea, Wokingham, Thanet and Tunbridge Wells. All had under 20 inspections last year.
Merlin Hyman, director of the environmental industries' commission, said: "These problems are undermining well run companies who want a level playing field."
