Pollution

This page introduces some of the main pollution issues facing Leicester and provides links to further information. 

It also explains how to report a pollution incident or concern and gives tips for what you can do to prevent pollution at home or in your business.

How to report pollution

Air quality

Water quality

What you can do to prevent pollution

Noise pollution

Contaminated land

Asbestos

Street cleaning and fly-tipping

How to report pollution

Leicester City Council – Environment Line: 0116 252 7001. You can use this number as a first point of contact to report any pollution incident or concern. 

For details and out-of-hours number click on the above link.

Environment Agency – Incident Hotline: 0800 807 060  Open 24 hours to report any pollution incident.

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Air quality

Local air quality is monitored by the Council’s Pollution Team against national standards.  Leicester’s air meets these standards for most pollutants, but levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) – a product mainly of car and lorry exhausts - currently breach the limits at certain places in the city.  These areas have been designated as Air Quality Management Areas.

Air pollution is a significant health issue for people in Leicester.  For example nitrogen dioxide can worsen the symptoms of respiratory illnesses such as asthma.  The Council has an Air Quality Action Plan to reduce nitrogen dioxide levels by improving the management of traffic and encouraging more people to walk, cycle or use public transport.

In Leicester, we also have a number of factories and similar sites that emit a significant amount of air pollution.  These are called ‘point sources’ of air pollution.  Their emissions are monitored and regularly checked by the Environment Agency or the Council’s Pollution Team.

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Water quality

The quality of water in the River Soar and other local watercourses is regularly checked by the Environment Agency. 

To protect and improve the quality of water in local rivers and brooks, companies and individuals are not allowed to release used water or any other liquids into a watercourse, onto land or into storm water drains without first getting permission from the Agency.  An ‘Environmental Permit’ may be needed.

See the Environment Agency website

What you can do to prevent pollution – top tips

Key things that individuals can do include:

• Reduce car travel – try walking, cycling, public transport or home working to reduce pollution from your travel and improve Leicester’s air quality

• Take waste motor oil or unused paint to the tip – never pour it down the drain!

• Prevent noise nuisance – use our tips to control noise

• Avoid bonfires – compost your garden waste or turn larger woody material into a log pile wildlife habitat.

• Report pollution (link to anchor at How to report pollution sub-heading) – including rivers and drains, black smoke from bonfires or chimneys and fly-tipped rubbish.

• Protect watercourses – get permission from the Environment Agency before releasing used or contaminated water or any liquid into a watercourse, onto land or into a storm drain.    

• Use oil interceptors where there is a risk of oil or fuel getting into watercourses through storm drains.

• Introduce a Travel Plan – to reduce pollution from company travel, distribution of goods and employees’ travel to work.

• Follow the Waste Duty of Care – to make sure your company waste is safely stored and disposed of to prevent it polluting the environment.

• Protect air quality– carefully manage your company’s air emissions, such as from boilers, furnaces and bonfires, vehicles or industrial processes to minimise pollution and meet legal requirements.