WILTSHIRE Council is rewriting its plans to tackle poor air quality in the county.

Across Wiltshire there are eight areas which have breached harmful particulate levels in the air.

Three parts of Salisbury, Marlborough, Calne, Westbury, Bradford on Avon and Devizes have been labelled air quality management areas where the authority has highlighted as places with high levels of poor air quality.

Action plans have been drawn up to tackle issues that increase air pollution including idling cars and HGV lorries travelling through towns.

Councillor Ben Anderson said: “The truth is while you say that cars are the problem in this county having poor air quality, there’s a driver in each of those cars, and the reason behind poor air quality is human behaviour. We need to make sure communities are engaged.”

In January, campaigners in Calne dressed up as 18th century scientist Joseph Priestley - who discovered oxygen and lived in Calne - to protest about local air quality and to call for Wiltshire Council to fund a traffic survey. At the time mayor Glenis Ansell branded the protest a stunt and said air quality was improving in the town.

During last Thursday’s Health and Wellbeing Committee meeting at County Hall, in Trowbridge, Councillor Stewart Palmen described an incident where person came to Trowbridge Town Council with concerns after seeing a mother with a pram in the path of bus fumes.

Councillor Anderson said: “It’s that local knowledge we need do more with.

“In Marlborough, for example what we’ve got are these canopies in front of the shops and when a bus sits idling the fumes get caught up in these canopies. We could have conversations with bus companies so people won’t get hit when they walk past.”

Plans will go before full council before being adopted by Wiltshire Council.