AIR quality at Gatwick has improved over the past year, a new report by airport bosses has claimed.

Annual nitrogen dioxide levels fell from 32 to 31 micrograms per cubic metre in 2014, verified figures show. The legal limit is 40.

Airport bosses said the improvement bolstered their case to build a second runway.

Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate said: “Gatwick has operated within legal air quality limits for more than a decade and can guarantee that it will continue to meet these legal limits even with a second runway.”

The independent Airports Commission has recommended a new runway be built at Heathrow. The government will decide later this year.