Legal bid threat over missed Newcastle city centre clean air toll plan deadline

Three councils have been threatened with legal action if they miss a third deadline to come up with a plan to tackle air pollution.

Newcastle, North Tyneside and Gateshead councils are considering charging drivers up to £3.40 on bridges across the River Tyne to deter drivers.

The councils said they missed a second deadline processing 19,000 responses to a public consultation.

The government has now given them until 12 November to submit a final plan.

The three councils said they are faced with a "public health crisis" caused by traffic pollution and must meet government clean air targets by 2021.

A spokeswoman for the three councils said: "Correspondence from government is clear that any delay or non-compliance with these deadlines will result in legal action.

"The independent analysis of the public consultation responses is now complete and we will be publishing details of the findings shortly."

NE1, a campaigning group which represents hundreds of firms, is calling for "less drastic measures" to be implemented.

There are fears shoppers will instead go to the Metrocentre in Gateshead.

The authorities are considering two options - charging highest-polluting vehicles a daily fee of £12.50 to drive into town or tolls on the three central bridges across the Tyne.

Environment Minister Therese Coffey said she was "concerned" that they were yet to come up with a preferred option.

She has agreed to again push back the deadline further and they have until 8 August to submit a preliminary proposal before submitting their final plans in November.