SIGNS alerting people to the quality of Musselburgh’s air on a daily basis could be introduced on the town’s High Street in a bid to raise awareness of the pollution problems caused by congestion.

And additional signage could also be introduced to tell people heading towards the town centre about delays, in a bid to encourage them to use alternative routes to ease the frequent gridlock.

The two ideas were put forward at a meeting of East Lothian Council’s cabinet on Tuesday, as councillors approved a 13-step Musselburgh Air Quality Action Plan drawn up to tackle pollution problems in the centre of the town.

That plan will now be submitted to the Scottish Government, Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), after Musselburgh High Street was declared an Air Quality Management Area.

Councillor Norman Hampshire, cabinet member for environment, said: “Thirteen key measures are contained within the action plan and contain a mix of council and partnership initiatives.

“East Lothian is experiencing a considerable rise in housing developments, particularly in the west. The Air Quality Action Plan requires to consider the Local Development Plan too to determine the environmental impacts of housing and associated population growth and transportation needs.

“As such, the council has advised short-term, medium-term and ongoing measures which recognise the development proposals.”

Among the 13 key measures are enforcing penalties for allowing engines to idle, relocating bus stops and better public transport links, and putting up signs declaring the area as an Air Quality Management Area.

At the meeting, ward councillor John McNeil asked officials if they could also look into additional signage in the town centre to alert people to the quality of the air each day. He said: “Could we not have signs, like SEPA use to alert people to water quality at beaches, so we could tell people the air quality today is good or the air quality today is bad? They would raise awareness of the issue and could be helpful.”

And ward councillor Stuart Currie added: “Perhaps we could have signs telling drivers about the delays getting through High Street, so if it is 25 minutes they might opt to use the bypass instead.”

Officials agreed to look into the suggestions.

Green campaigner Jason Rose, who has raised concerns about the pollution in Musselburgh for a number of years, was critical of some of the plan, which follows a public consultation on its proposal late last year.

He said: “The measures proposed are the same as those in the draft action plan, so the consultation appears to have carried no weight.

“I’m astonished that some of the measures are still being put forward, such as ‘promotion of cycling and walking’, when High Street has no dedicated cycling space.

“Perhaps the worst suggestions are additional bus stops, when the council’s own consultants found that this would make no difference to vehicle emissions, and the erection of signs to raise awareness of the Air Quality Management Area.

“The real issue is preventing traffic coming through the town.

“It’s too late if drivers are already in the High Street, reading signs telling them about the pollution that they are causing.”