More than 1,200 people a year are dying prematurely in Sussex from breathing in dirty air.

Now calls have been made to ban lorries and old buses from Brighton and Hove in a bid to save lives.

A report into air quality by the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee found that poor air quality reduced the life expectancy of every single person in the country by seven to eight months.

The effects of traffic fumes were considered a bigger risk to public health than car accidents or passive smoking, contributing to the deaths of 1,216 Sussex people every year.

Brighton Kemptown MP Des Turner, who helped prepare the report, said Sussex residents breathe in huge levels of dangerous particulates from traffic fumes and shipping lanes.

One person in every five city family suffers from respiratory problems and between 2005 and 2007, 587 children from Brighton and Hove were admitted to hospital with difficulty breathing.