The UK government has suffered another blow after losing a third air pollution case in the High Court.

The judge ruled that the government's air pollution plans are "unlawful" and that it has failed to tackle the problem.

Just hours later on Wednesday (February 21) MP for Brentford and Isleworth Ruth Cadbury, whose constituency has a number of schools located in the most polluted areas of Hounslow, questioned the Prime Minister.

Ms Cadbury said: “On Monday children and parents at St Mary’s catholic school in Chiswick told me of their concerns about air pollution affecting children’s health.

"The High Court ruled that the government has comprehensively failed to properly tackle air pollution; which does the Prime Minister feel is worse, the government losing in the High Court for a third time or the 40,000 early deaths that result from air pollution every year in the UK?”

St Mary's Catholic Primary School in Chiswick, one of the most polluted schools in the borough of Hounslow, held a meeting with the MP where they raised concerns over tackling toxic air in west London.

Children, parents, governors and the head teacher at the school, located close to the A4 corridor, addressed their issues over the effect of pollution on pupils' health.

They spoke to Ms Cadbury about actions they are exploring including the idea of a living green wall along the A4, air purifiers in classrooms and initiatives such as ultra-low emissions vehicles and air quality zones to tackle air pollution in surrounding areas.

MP Ruth Cadbury questions Prime Minister over tackling air pollution in the worst polluted areas

Schools including St Mary's and William Hogarth School in Chiswick await the Mayor of London's audit reports on local air quality affecting primary schools in the worst polluted areas, which will identify hard-hitting measures to protect pupils' health from toxic air.

They will also examine new ways to dramatically lower emissions and exposure to pollution in and around schools.

The audits were completed at the end of 2017, with reports due to be ready by March 2018.

The "air quality audits" pilot scheme was announced by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, in September last year.

He said: “It is shameful that children across London are breathing in toxic air simply by going to and from school and I am determined to do everything in my power to safeguard their health.

“These air quality audits are a big step towards helping some of the most polluted schools in London identify effective solutions to protect pupils from toxic fumes but, of course, this is only part of the solution."

St Mary's Catholic Primary School headteacher Joan Hart, Ruth Cadbury MP, school governors and local parent Andrea Carnevali

Every year more than 9,000 Londoners’ lives end sooner because of air pollution and around a quarter of primary schools are located in parts of London that breach legal air pollution limits, Ms Cadbury said.

Children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of bad air as their lungs develop, so reducing exposure is especially important at places like schools.

The charity, Client Earth, successfully won in court with a ruling that current plans to improve air quality are "unlawful" because they do not bring nitrogen dioxide levels within legal limits in the "shortest possible time".

This is the third time Client Earth have won rulings against ministers over failures to meet legal limits for the pollutant.

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