THE city needs more money to tackle 'toxic and illegal' levels of air pollution following a 'concerning' Government Clean Air Strategy.

The strategy was announced yesterday by Environment Secretary Michael Gove with the aim of halving the number of people to high levels of air pollution by 2025.

It includes giving local council more powers to limit people using wood-burning stoves.

But campaigners said the 104-page report failed to deal with the problem of NOX emissions from cars.

Oxford City Council, which has proposed the world's first Zero Emissions Zone in 2020 and has recently installed electric car charging points across the city said it needed more funding and support to achieve its ambitious aims.

Board member for safer and greener environment, Tom Hayes, said: " We are pleased that the Government has released a draft Clean Air Strategy for the UK.

"But at first glance it appears to be light on detail about how the 'more formal approach' will work, how local authorities will be supported to introduce zero emission zones and how much funding will be available.

"Others have described the strategy as having a 'transport-shaped hole', which given about 70 per cent of the air pollution in Oxford comes from transport, is concerning."

Mr Hayes added that the council would be going through the strategy to understand how it will impact Oxford before responding to the consultation.

To make comments go to consult.defra.gov.uk