AIR pollution in some parts of the UK has dropped by up to 50 percent due to the coronavirus lockdown.

The picture is repeated across the world including in India, where traffic emissions in some places are at an all-time low.

Figures comparing the levels of nitrogen dioxide per cubic metre show that cities are experiencing much cleaner air as a result of far fewer drivers using the roads.

Nitrogen dioxide, released from car exhausts, is a serious air pollutant and also indirectly contributes to the warming of the planet.

In Plymouth centre, levels for one week in March last year were at 17.9 micrograms of Nitrgoen Dioxode per cubic metre, and this year, the levels were 11.8mcg.

On the busy Tavistock Road commuter route, the levels have dropped from 23.4 mcg per cubic metre in March 2019 to 7.0mcg per cubic metre this year.

In the more rural areas of South East Cornwall, the natural world appears to be enjoying the chance to have a little more space than usual. Swans have been pictured sitting in the harbourside streets in Looe and one cyclist reported ’deer strutting all over the road’ in the Looe valley.