THE quality of air in Argyll and Bute is officially among the best in Scotland.

Monitoring by Argyll and Bute Council’s environmental health team has found levels of pollutants well within national guidelines.

Councillor David Kinniburgh, policy lead for planning, housing and regulatory services, told the Advertiser: “It’s excellent news that tests on air quality shows exactly what everyone in Argyll and Bute knows – it’s the best.

“Eight pollutants are tested for and I’m delighted we were well within the levels set down by the government for every one of them.

“We won’t be resting on our laurels however – monitoring work will continue to assess our air quality standards and residents can be assured we’ll continue to keep those standards high.”

Some of the pollutants are mainly from vehicle emissions. Testing for these is done at 10 different sites across Argyll and Bute and all show a steady or falling trend, well below the national benchmark.

Also, in 2016/17, the council received a number of planning applications that had a potential to affect air quality objectives.

In these cases, applicants were told that approving planning permission would mean safeguarding conditions would have to be attached or the application would be refused.

The results of the tests will be sent to the Scottish Government.