PROPOSALS to create Scotland's first low emission zone in Glasgow will condemn Scotland's biggest city to illegal air for years to come, an environmental group has warned.

Last October, World Health Organisation testing found Glasgow was one of the most polluted areas in the UK, with poorer air quality than London.

The Glasgow city centre zone will initially crack down on bus pollution with all vehicles to be compliant with restricted emissions in the area by the end of 2022.

But the move, which is to be followed with zones in Scotland’s other cities, has been widely criticised by campaigners - with concerns the plans will only apply to one in five buses by the end of 2018.

There was also concern that was was no timetable in place to limit pollution from cars, vans and lorries.

Friends of the Earth Scotland labelled the plans a “No Ambition Zone”.

It added: “The proposals condemn Glasgow to illegal air for years to come and must be urgently improved. Councillors must recommend these proposals be significantly improved when they discuss them next week or they will have failed the people of Glasgow who suffer daily from the health impacts of air pollution.

"This plan is even worse that initially envisaged, not only will the Zone fail to catch dirty vans and lorries but it will only apply to a tiny fraction of buses. A Low Emission Zone which has no signs to mark it, no new cameras to catch offenders and continues to allow almost every dirty vehicle into the city centre, is not a Low Emission Zone.

"The bus industry and the dinosaurs at Government agency Transport Scotland have succeeding in making sure the Glasgow LEZ proposals will fail to achieve clean air by 2020, the Scottish Government’s target date for compliance with safety standards."

Plans to cut exhaust fumes from buses as part of the zone which are due to be established by the end of this year, will be voted on by councillors next week.

Environmental lawyers Client Earth who previously said they were considering taking the Scottish Government to court over air quality failures has warned that Scotland, like the rest of the UK, needs to obey the law on pollution limits.

Some 2000 early deaths are caused every year in Scotland because of polluted air according to the latest medical research.

The Scottish Government set its own target date for compliance with EU safety standards by 2020, having missed an earlier deadline in 2010 because of Glasgow’s high levels of NO2 pollution.

Councillor Anna Richardson, convener for sustainability and carbon reduction, said: “While we continue to work with the bus industry to improve services - services which are vital to the lives of Glaswegians - it’s recognised that the introduction of a low emission zone (LEZ) needs to be proportionate and managed in such a way that ambition and practicality can be balanced.

“Glasgow is forging a national path towards cleaner air - air that we will all benefit from. Poor air quality is a significant public health concern and a major social justice issue for Glasgow.”