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A building material that claims it can reverse the effects of air pollution has been launched in London.

The award-winning material, called “The Breath”, can be used both indoors and outdoors and works buy absorbs harmful airborne molecules and dispersing "cleaner air".

It’s London debut consists of an advertising banner in Leicester Square – where it is expected to reverse the omissions of over 13,000 cars.

The Breath was first designed in Italy in 2014 by inventors Anemotech, who claim it can absorb high concentrations of air pollution within a 25-meter area.

They said: “By installing 250sqm of the material over one year its impact on the environment is the equivalent of removing pollution from over 750,000 unleaded vehicles and 300,000 diesel cars.

“We estimate that just two 10M² sheets of the material correctly positioned in the Leicester Square over one year could cancel out nitrogen oxide emissions from 5,475 diesel vehicles and Volatile Organic Compounds emitted from 13,650 unleaded cars.”

The “ground-breaking” material comes just a week after a study commissioned by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan revealed that tens of thousands of children in London schools are exposed to illegal levels of air pollution.

And previous studies conducted by Kings College London found that in 2010 dirty air contributed towards up to 9,500 deaths in the capital.

Gianluca de Marchi, global president at The Breath’s advertising partner Urban Vision, said: “More needs to be done to tackle the scourge of air pollution.

"I believe the use of innovative technologies such as The Breath will help to contribute towards improving the health of Londoners.

“Urban Vision has a strong reputation for looking after cultural and historical beauty in some of the world’s most important cities. But today we can say that our work also contributes to improving the environment and protecting people’s health from the harmful effects of air pollution.”

According to Anemotech, the material uses a series of nano-molecules and the local atmosphere’s natural air flow to remove harmful pollutants such as nitrous oxides, sulphur oxides and particulates.