DECISIONS on how funding aimed at improving York’s air quality should be used will be made next week.

City of York Council has received a grant of £72,750 from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the fifth highest allocation for any local authority in the UK.

The money is to be used to find ways of making the city’s air cleaner, after figures released earlier this year showed pollution was linked to 160 deaths in York every year, and the authority’s executive member for neighbourhood services and housing, Coun Ann Reid, will discuss where the grant should be focused at a meeting next Tuesday.

The council has until next April to develop an Air Quality Action Plan, containing a series of measures for tackling the issue, with additional funding of £20,000 being awarded to support York’s role as a regional low emission champion.

This could allow the promotion of low emission vehicles and is linked to the Yorkshire-wide bid for 700 recharging points for electric vehicles.

The authority is also currently developing a low emission strategy for the city, with an outline document set to be considered by its executive next month.