The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has announced plans for 10 more Low Emission Bus Zones .

The buses are part of the Mayor’s measures to tackle London’s air – responsible for the premature deaths of more than 9,000 Londoners every year – with major plans set to be implemented in 2017 to tackle the dirtiest vehicles.

The new greener buses, which will be a combination of hybrid and clean buses that meet Euro VI standards, are part of an improvement programme to 3,000 buses outside central London.

The zones are expected to reduce NOx emissions from buses along the routes by around 84 per cent and will fulfil the Mayor’s manifesto commitment to introduce Low Emission Bus Zones by 2020.

Tompion Platt, Head of Policy at Living Streets, the UK charity for everyday walking, said: “It’s encouraging to see the Mayor taking action to improve air quality on some of London’s busiest high streets, where thousands of people walking are exposed to dangerous fumes every day. These measures, combined with those encouraging more people to swap their car for walking and cycling to their high streets, will help improve the health of everyone living, working and shopping in London.”

Areeba Hamid, clean air campaigner, Greenpeace, said: “These are welcome initiatives that show the Mayor is serious about his intentions to clean up our air, and protect Londoners from the harmful effects of air pollution. We’re hoping national government will take a leaf out of London’s book and provide plans and resources so other cities can also tackle air pollution to protect everyone’s health.”

Low Emission Bus Zones are one of a number of measures the Mayor has asked TfL to take to reduce emissions from the capital’s bus fleet, including the phasing out of diesel only buses and a commitment to purchase only hybrid or zero emission double deck buses from 2018.