Brighton and Hove has again been named one of the UK's most polluted places.

A new report shows the level of traffic fumes in the city is dangerously high.

During the first six months of the year, the city centre was the country's ninth most polluted location outside London.

Levels of nitrogen dioxide, a dangerous gas which can contribute to lung diseases such as asthma, bronchitis and emphysema, regularly exceeded the safe level set by the Government.

According to figures released by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP), which protects the interests of people with respiratory illnesses, from January to June this year there was an average of 41 micrograms of nitrogen dioxide per cubic metre of air in the centre of Brighton.

That is the same figure as the average for the whole of last year, meaning Brighton's air quality has not been improving.

Green campaigners said they were disappointed at the news but not surprised because little has been done to clear up pollutants, despite the city being earmarked to become an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) by the end of this year.

AQMAs are places designated as hot spots in need of attention.

The monitoring station highlighted by the CSP is outside the Royal Pavilion, near the junction of Marlborough Place and Church Street.

Hourly measurements are recorded by the national Air Quality Archive.

In the middle of the day the figure can be much higher. Yesterday it topped 90 micrograms.

Keith Taylor, leader of the Greens on Brighton and Hove City Council, said: "This underlines the Greens' concerns about traffic in the centre.

"It is affecting people's lives and health. Last year airborne pollution led to the premature death of 32,000 people. That's ten times more people than die in traffic accidents."

Last July the council was given an 18-month target to come up with a strategy for improving the AQMA.

Councillor Taylor said: "I really don't see how they're going to do it.

"Certainly the council needs to manage the level of traffic in the city centre. The Greens have argued we should have a serious congestion charge. If that is workable, we could put the money raised into improving sustainable transport."

Sue Paskins, ward councillor for St Peter's and North Laine, which includes the monitoring site, said: "We need to stop cars coming into the city. I would like to see more positive steps towards making it a city in which car transport is not the only means of getting around.

"We need more car clubs and I would love to see cheaper buses."

A council spokeswoman said some of the sites tested were rural so naturally would not have readings as high as those in city centres.

She said: "The site referred to in the report is a roadside site, chosen by the Government to build up a national picture of air quality, so does not give a complete picture.

"There is a second site in a less congested area in Hove which does not feature on the list of worst places.

"We are slightly over the acceptable level of 40. However, we would like to see a much lower level recorded on that site.

"To achieve this, we are assessing air quality levels throughout the city and will be developing an action plan to tackle the problem."