Problems from air pollution have existed ever since the human race started to use fire. Anyone who has lit a bonfire or who has a coal fire at home will be well aware of the amount of smoke that is generated when they are first alight. Multiply the individual fires by the number of homes using them and it's easy to see why our towns and cities were such unhealthy places in the past.

The first documented complaints about air pollution can be traced back to 1257 when the wife of Henry III, Queen Eleanor, refused to stay in Nottingham Castle because of the choking air sent up to the royal chambers from the coal fires in the surrounding houses below the castle.

Hundreds of years passed before Parliament decided to act to improve air quality. Before then, the smoke and muck emanating from factories were signs of industrial progress. ‘Where there's muck there's money’ was an expression of the time. However, although a committee was appointed by Parliament in 1819 to investigate whether engines and furnaces could be operated without causing harm to health and comfort, no action was taken on its findings. Much later, the Public Health Act 1936 allowed local authorities to carry out inspections to detect emissions which were regarded as harmful to health, but again this measure was ineffective because the imminence of war required the maximum production of goods.

The milestone in air pollution prevention in the UK arose from the terrible smog which lasted for five days in London in December 1952. It occurred because the weather was particularly cold and still over the city which is situated in a river valley. A ‘temperature inversion’ took place which resulted in the warm air and fumes over the city being trapped beneath cold and denser air above it.