LATEST pollution figures will be aired at a meeting next week about Boot Hill.

Residents are organising the meeting in a bid to tackle the high levels of pollution they say are "making their lives a misery".

A report released last year shows that the levels of nitrogen dioxide recorded on Rodwell Road, particularly in the Boot Hill area, are some of the highest in the Dorset and up to double the levels of recordings taken in other parts of Weymouth.

Nitrogen dioxide is a pollutant caused by traffic which has adverse health effects on breathing and particularly affects asthma sufferers.

Residents have been campaigning about the pollution levels on the road since the new traffic light system was installed in 2011 and have been refused any compensation from the council as the changes ‘did not alter the road’.

At the public meeting, which will be held at 7.30pm on Tuesday, people in the area can talk directly about their problems to councillors and traffic officials.

A spokesman for the Green Party, which has organised the meeting, said the purpose will be to start thinking of viable solutions.

“We want to get residents together with highways officials and elected representatives, so they can air their views directly and also start the process of trying to find solutions,” they said.

According to residents, the smell of fumes has increased since the roundabout at the top of Boot Hill was replaced by traffic lights.

The group has obtained the latest figures from the borough council regarding the pollution, and these will be discussed at the meeting. A film, which features residents of Boot Hill, will also be shown.

Newly-elected ward councillor Clare Sutton said: “A really bad situation just seems to have got worse.

“There are no quick fixes; the traffic has to go somewhere. But we are working with everybody involved to make life more bearable for people living in the area.

“People are extremely fed up and distressed.

"They’ve been told the levels of pollution are officially just inside acceptable levels.

“But that is meaningless to people who can’t open their windows, can’t bear to be in their garden for more than 10 minutes, or those who have had to increase their asthma medication.”

Plea for newer and cleaner buses

Campaigners have also written to First Bus asking them to put ‘newer and cleaner’ buses on the routes along Boot Hill and Rodwell Road.

They have also investigated a scheme to plant small trees by the roadside to help counteract the fumes, as schemes elsewhere show the trees can help reduce air pollution.

The public meeting will be held in the Old Town Hall in High West Street.

Campaigners say everyone is welcome.

June Pope, a Rodwell Road resident for over 50 years, said residents along Boot Hill have been trying to sell their houses for many years but valuation prices had dropped dramatically.