THOUSANDS of residents are being asked to help bring clean air to the borough.

Parts of Bury are so polluted that they are at risk of breaching Government targets.

The dangers are spelled out in a document titled "Clearing The Air" which has been sent to 10,000 homes in the borough.

Areas most affected locally are in East Bury near the M66, and the whole of Whitefield and Prestwich, nearer the M62 and Manchester.

The law says that councils must declare an Air Quality Management Area if it looks like pollution will exceed targets.

Great swathes of Greater Manchester are likely to be affected, and the region will have to draw up an action plan. Bury will declare its air quality management areas early next year. The leaflet sent to Bury households contains a card asking for people's comments, which can be sent in by freepost. It asks what they think the council should be doing about air pollution, such as encouraging public transport, charging motorists to enter towns, and clamping down on factories which put out pollution.

And it also wants to know if people would be prepared to take part in finding solutions to the problem.

Mr Alan Freer, borough environmental services officer, said: "We feel it essential that local opinions are heard, as air pollution and its solutions are subjects that affect so many people within the area."

The main sources of pollution in the region come from road transport and industry.

Health bosses say that while the thick smog days of the 1950s are gone, they are still worried about pollution levels, particularly nitrogen dioxide. Other harmful substances include lead, sulphur dioxide, CO2 and benzene.

The leaflets can also be inspected in Bury libraries.