Sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles will be banned in the UK as part of a drive to reduce air pollution.

The plans, which will come into force in 2040, were announced today by Environment Secretary Michael Gove.

Evidence shows that poor air quality is the largest environmental risk to public health in the UK, costing the country up to £2.7billion in lost productivity in 2012.

The UK Plan for Tackling Roadside Nitrogen Dioxide Concentrations produced by Defra and the Department for Transport outlines how councils with the worst levels of air pollution at busy road junctions and hotspots must take robust action.

Mr Gove said: "Today's plan sets out how we will work with local authorities to tackle the effects of roadside pollution caused by dirty diesels, in particular nitrogen dioxide.

"This is one element of the government's £3billion programme to clean up the air and reduce vehicle emissions.

"Improving air quality is about more than just transport, so next year we will publish a comprehensive Clean Air Strategy.

"This will set out how we will address all forms of air pollution, delivering clean air for the whole country."

Air quality in the UK has been improving significantly in recent decades, with reductions in emissions of all of the key pollutants, and NO2 levels down by half in the last 15 years.

Despite this, an analysis of over 1,800 of Britain's major roads show that a small number of these - 81 or four per cent - are due to breach legal pollution limits for NO2, with 33 of these outside of London.

To accelerate action, local areas will be asked to produce initial plans within eight months and final plans by the end of next year.

The Government will help towns and cities by providing £255million to implement their plans, in addition to the £2.7billion it is already investing.

Due to the highly localised nature of the problem, local knowledge will be crucial in solving pollution problems in these hotspots.

The Government will require councils to produce local air quality plans that reduce nitrogen dioxide levels in the fastest possible time.

Local authorities will be able to bid for money from a new Clean Air Fund to support improvements, which will reduce the need for restrictions on polluting vehicles.

This could include changing road layouts, removing traffic lights and speed humps, or upgrading speed bumps.

Local authorities will have access to a range of options to tackle poor air quality in their plans such as changing road layouts to reduce congestion, encouraging uptake of ultra-low emissions vehicles and retrofitting public transport.

If these measures are not sufficient to ensure legal compliance, local authorities may also need to consider restrictions on polluting vehicles using affected roads.

This could mean preventing polluting vehicles using some of these roads at certain times of the day or introducing charging

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: "We are determined to deliver a green revolution in transport and reduce pollution in our towns and cities.

"We are taking bold action and want nearly every car and van on UK roads to be zero emission by 2050, which is why we've committed to investing more than £600million in the development, manufacture and use of ultra-low emission vehicles by 2020.

"Today we commit £100million towards new low emission buses and retrofitting older buses with cleaner engines.

"We are also putting forward proposals for van drivers to have the right to use heavier vehicles if they are electric or gas-powered, making it easier for businesses to opt for cleaner commercial vehicles."

Punchline expects Stroud-based Ecotricity, which has around 300 pumps across Britain, to be among the businesses to benefit from the push towards electric vehicles.

The move away from fossil fuels and towards other forms of energy also opens up an opportunity for Gloucester-based Tidal Lagoon Power, whose projects include a £1billion scheme at Swansea Bay.

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