Around £6m in funding promised to local authorities to help tackle air pollution will be withheld, a Government spokesperson has confirmed.

Local authorities that had bid for a share of the fund and were successful were informed two months ago.

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs spokesperson said air quality minister Robbie Moore had ‘used his discretion… not to fund the Local Air Quality Grant scheme for the 2023-24 financial year'.

They added: ‘We are considering whether the Local Air Quality Grants scheme could be redesigned to better deliver positive outcomes for local air quality and therefore greater value for money for taxpayers.'