Campaigners say residents are at risk as levels of pollution in Glasgow go unrecorded when monitoring equipment breaks down.

Environmental groups have warned that lives are being put at risk and are calling for urgent action to make sure pollution is properly monitored in the city.

Three of the air pollution monitors in the city have suffered technical failures in 2014, leaving many people with health conditions at risk.

Asthma sufferer Mick Starbuck says he relies on the monitors to tell him when he can go to certain areas.

“There are days when I struggle even to get out to the car or walk 50 yards or more”, he said.

“It’s particularly bad in the city centre and I had to stop attending meetings in Edinburgh. I have particular trouble with bus and train stations as well so even public transport isn’t an easy option for me.

“If I’m going to somewhere in particular like say I want to go to Glasgow University, I will look at the Byers Road monitor, providing it’s working.

“But I’ll keep an eye on the other monitors because each monitors different levels of different components in the atmosphere.”

A council spokesman said the council’s supplier had been instructed to carry out repairs and despite missing data they can still evaluate an approximate number of times pollution levels go over the limits.

A monitor in the west end of the city on Byers Road was offline for more than seven months, while a recorder in Anderston was broken for six weeks. The monitor on Nithsdale Road remains out of action after breaking down over 2 months ago.

Friends of the Earth campaigner Emilia Hanna says more needs to be done to tackle Glasgow’s pollution problem.

She said: “In Glasgow alone every year 200 people die from exposure to air pollution so it really is a silent killer.

“Not enough is being done to tackle air pollution in Glasgow.

“For many years now we’ve had levels of air pollution which are breaking European legally binding standards so we need to see much stronger measures being put forward by the city council and by the government.”

Glasgow City Council said they have produced two action plans to improve air quality and last year spent £500,000 on cycling improvements, vehicle emission enforcement, travel planning and car clubs.

Next year the electric bus service will launch alongside further cycling improvements and work is ongoing to improve air quality.

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