Seven roads in Redbridge will be closed during school drop-off and collection times and motorist will be fined if they do not comply.

Redbridge Council won £200,000 from the Mayor of London to tackle dirty air in the capital and the local authority will spend it on its school clean air scheme.

Anyone that enters streets outside seven schools during the peak times will be identified by automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras and issued a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN).

The scheme will be first rolled out at SS Peter and Pauls, Gordon Road, Ilford; Fairlop Primary, Colvin Gardens, Hainault; and Churchfields Junior School, South Woodford in 2019 and 2020.

It will then start outside Redbridge Primary, College Garden; Fullwood Primary, Burford Close, Barkingside; and Oakdale Primary, Oakdale Road, South Woodford in 2020 to 2021.

The scheme will commence outside Christchurch Primary, Wellesley Road, Ilford in 2021- 2022.

Consultation for the first Redbridge Clean Air Zone outside Saints Peter and Paul's Primary School is under way and the council said there is "overwhelming support from teachers and pupils" for the scheme.

However more than 77per cent of Recorder readers were against the plans in an online poll.

Council leader, Councillor Jas Athwal said: "I am enormously pleased that the mayor has awarded us funding to make the roads around schools much safer and healthier for our residents

"It's our absolute duty to protect our children's health, both as a council and as part of the community ourselves and these zones will target congested areas outside of schools by cutting down on pollution caused by traffic.

"We know that air quality and safety is a top concern for parents and that's why we are doing everything we can to build a cleaner and safer environment for our residents and mitigate the impact pollution has on local young people."

Earlier this year Redbridge Council was also successful in a bid for £3million from the same £22m Mayor's fund to transform access to Ilford town centre and tackle an air pollution hotspot.

Cabinet member for civic pride, Cllr John Howard added: "It's critical we act now to improve London's toxic air as it's having a hugely damaging effect on the lungs of our children and young people.

"I'm grateful to the mayor for this funding as this is such an important project which will allow us to not only tackle toxic air by cutting down on congestion during school runs but will also ensure to journey's to and from school are much safer.

"This scheme will also promote active travel by encouraging students and parents to walk and cycle."