The Mayor of London has announced his plan to tackle the capital’s toxic air which kills nearly 10,000 people each year.

Sadiq Khan unveiled his action plan today (July 5) on the 60th anniversary of the Clean Air Act in a speech at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

His proposals for a cleaner London include making the area up to the North Circular boundary, which runs through Chingford and Highams Park, into an ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) by 2020.

This would mark the extension of central London’s ULEZ to the outer boroughs, affecting all motorcycles, cars and vans.

Vehicles not meeting ULEZ standards, which will broadly affect petrol-engine cars and vans registered before 2005, will a face a fine, which is currently set at £130 in central London.

Diesel cars and vans using the new ULEZ will have to be Euro 6 registered, which affects vehicles registered before September 2015.

The ULEZ extension is part of a further proposal to start a £10 emissions surcharge on the most polluting vehicles entering central London from 2017.

All lorries, buses and coaches travelling London-wide will have to meet ULEZ standards by 2020.

The Mayor is calling it the “toughest crackdown on the most polluting vehicles by any major city around the world”.

Mr Khan added: “With nearly 10,000 people dying early every year in London due to exposure to air pollution, cleaning up London’s toxic air is now an issue of life and death.

“Just as in the 1950s, air pollution in London today is literally killing Londoners. But unlike the smoky pollution of the past, today’s pollution is a hidden killer.

“Urgent action is now needed to ensure Londoners no longer have to fear the very air we breathe.”

The public have until Friday, July 29, to give feed back on the proposals with further consultations taking place later this year.