Several sunseekers were taken to hospital with breathing difficulties amid fears air pollution levels on Brighton seafront are getting worse.

Soaring temperatures over the weekend and a big upsurge in traffic on the coastal road are believed to have triggered a sharp rise in nitrogen dioxide on the beach and surrounding areas.

As thousands of daytrippers packed the seafront the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton dealt with a number of patients suffering respiratory problems.

Some pf those affected are understood to suffer with underlying problems such as asthma.

Recordings monitored by the Sussex Air Quality Partnership showed levels of nitrogen dioxide rose sharply on Sunday and peaked on Monday before beginning to tail off again as temperatures dropped.

Levels of ozone had also risen.

Environmental co-ordinator at The Argus, Sarah Lewis, said excess pollution would be related to the hot weather in as much as it would have meant more visitors to Brighton and Hove.

She said: "The hot weather also reacts with car fumes and creates smog, which is why everything has looked very hazy over the last few days.

Even if the respiratory attacks are not directly linked by the hospital to air quality, nitrogen dioxide and low-level ozone are both poisons when inhaled and can trigger asthma attacks etcetera if people are prone to such things."

One man taken to hospital, Steven Smith, said he began suffering chest pains after cycling along the seafront over the weekend.

"I have never suffered pains like this before and am sure that it's something in the air.

"I have been told by the hospital that there were many more admissions with respiratory problems over the weekend. Something needs to be done and the public need to be made aware if there is a problem with air pollution."

The partnership runs an airALERT service where people with conditions such as asthma can get free alerts sent to their phones when high levels of air pollution are expected.

The service will be up and running from next month and more details about registering are available at www.sussex-air.net.

The Royal Sussex was not available for comment.

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