BOLTON Council has called on the government to cough up the cash if it wants to improve air quality.

This comes as initial plans, which include charging certain vehicles in Clean Air Zones, have been waved through by councillors.

However, as part of the proposal, local authorities in Greater Manchester have said the government must provide the financial support to tackle air pollution.

This includes funding for a scrappage scheme to get more polluting cars off the road.

It also calls on the government to pull its weight by addressing pollution on the motorways which councils are not responsible for.

Cabinet member for Environmental Services, Cllr Nick Peel, said that Bolton took a lead by pushing other politicians in Greater Manchester to include these "conditions" in the outline business case.

He said: "Charging is not the answer. The real answer to clean air is to remove the polluting vehicles.

"If the government do not give us the funds that we require for this, I can't see how any of the measures that Greater Manchester put on the proposal will achieve what they want us to achieve."

Currently, the GM Clean Air Plan proposes charging non-compliant buses, taxis and HGVs from 2021 with a daily penalty.

Non-compliant LGVs would be charged from 2023.

All parties agreed that charging is not the right approach but Cllr Peel said that this is the government's preference.

However, he doubted that the plans would be accepted by the government anyway.

A public consultation on the initial proposal is set to start on May 15.