​FOUR major roads tested in Thanet for the potentially harmful gas nitrogen dioxide (N02) have consistently exceeded European safety guidelines.

The EU says NO2 levels across the year need to stay below 40 micrograms per cubic metre of air (mcg/m3) to be safe. Some parts of the isle have recorded NO2 levels which lung experts say are harmful to human health.

In the New Year’s edition of the Isle of Thanet Gazette, we reported that high levels of NO2 had been found in St Lawrence High Street and The Square in Birchington. Warning letters were sent to residents.

The Isle of Thanet Gazette can reveal four more locations could be added to the list of potential air quality management areas if initial readings are correct. These are Hereson Road and King Street in Ramsgate, The Broadway in Broadstairs and College Road in Margate.

NO2 can be a danger to young children, the elderly and those with lung problems. It can bring on asthma and lung disorders. It also dissolves in rainwater to produce acid rain.

A spokesman for environmental services played down the figures published on kentair.org.uk, claiming they were “not representative at all of air quality problems”. She said: “The tube data is crude and the results can be plus or minus 25 per cent. Readings have to be taken throughout the year and then averaged, rather than choosing one reading from one particular month.”

All four roads failed an annual mean test according to our figures with readings from 41.65 to 53.13 mcg/m3 of N02.

Over the course of last year, provisional results for 17 out of 25 roads tested by Thanet council also showed NO2 levels above those set by the EU.