A MAJOR factor in the official war on the car has been the government's bid to crack down on filthy exhaust fumes blamed for the rising levels of asthma and other chest complaints.

But now air-quality experts say pollution from power stations is just as harmful.

It will have major implications for the government's national air quality strategy which has been heavily geared to cleaning up car exhausts, particularly those of smoky diesel engines.

But whatever the culprit, the problem is immense.

Dirty air, full of the tiny particles that cause lung complaints, is estimated to result in 8,000 premature deaths annually and 10,000 early hospital admissions.

The sudden involvement of power plants will, however, put a new emphasis on alternative forms of energy - and a controversial one if health pressures restore the fortunes of "clean" nuclear power generation and the development of more wind farms in open countryside.

That, of course, is the next chapter in the debate.

The immediate one should be that the government crack down on harmful emissions should now extend from vehicles to the power plants, which should be made as clean as the latest technology can deliver.

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