A MUM who lived in Oxford's most air-polluted street for 10 years has moved out after being diagnosed with a lung condition.

Anya Greig said she got fed up with scrubbing black grime from her front door on St Clement's and worrying about what the same grime was doing to her health.

She also had her son's health in mind when she decided to leave the street she loved.

Miss Greig decided to go public with her story after Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council last month set up a joint task force to bring down levels of harmful nitrogen dioxide in St Clement's, which are currently one-and-a-half times the European Union legal limit.

The 39-year-old said: "We were in St Clement's for 10 years and I really liked it: it was central, near the Botanic Garden and had good public transport links.

"But I was always very conscious of air pollution: the air is stagnant and you can smell the fumes.

"I'd notice, especially in the summer, there was a heaviness in the air and it felt cloying. I'd also get a dry throat."

She said she had spoken to others who felt similar effects from working in St Clement's.

Not long ago, Miss Greig was diagnosed with a lung condition for which she is now taking medication, though she does not want to say what it is.

She said: "I'm not saying this was caused by living in St Clement's, but as soon as I was aware I had a weakness in my chest, I Googled the pollution levels.

"When I saw what it was in St Clement's, I thought 'my God – I'm not going to take that chance any more'."

So in May, Miss Greig and her son moved 'up the hill' to Marston.

Now, she says, she no longer gets a dry throat on a regular basis, and when she looks out her window she sees countryside.

She did not ask a doctor if it would be best to leave St Clement's, and she says pollution was not the only reason she wanted to move, but she said was the biggest factor.

The trade union employee said she was 'delighted' by the the new St Clement's air pollution working group, and said the primary challenge would be breaking up the queues of traffic which so often sit in St Clement's, engines running, filling the air with fumes.

City councillor for St Clement's, Tom Hayes said: "Everyday life in St Clement’s involves everyday exposure to air pollution, and that’s unacceptable.

"We can tackle illegal air in my St Clement’s ward by making it easier for people to cycle, shifting transport to electric or electric hybrid vehicles, encouraging fewer journeys, and so much more."