UK bill of £380,000 in air pollution legal fight

The UK government has spent almost £400,000 of taxpayers’ money fighting efforts to force it to tackle illegal air pollution, a freedom of information request shows.

A series of court cases brought by environmental law firm Clientearth to make ministers take action to meet EU legal targets on air quality have racked up legal fees and costs of more than £380,000, figures reveal.

Environmental charity Clientearth first launched action against the government in 2011 over its failure to keep within EU limits for harmful pollutant nitrogen dioxide, winning rulings in both the High Court and Supreme Court.

A government spokeswoman said: “We have committed £3 billion to help towns and cities take action against harmful emissions caused by dirty diesels.”