Air pollution is causing nearly 15,000 new cases of type 2 diabetes in Britain each year, a new study suggests.

The number of people in the UK with type 2 diabetes has trebled over the last two decades, rising from 700,000 in the 1990s to 2.8 million today, which costs the NHS around £14 billion a year.

The increased numbers have been linked to rising levels of obesity, but a new study from the US suggests that air pollution may be responsible for at least one in 10 cases in Britain.

It found that the number of people with diabetes rose as air pollution increased, even when particulates were below levels deemed safe by the World Health Organisation (WHO). “Air pollution is a major driver of illness and should not be ignored,” said Dr Ziyad Al-Aly, assistant professor of medicine at Washington University.

“In the UK, in 2016 there were about 14900 incident cases of diabetes attributable to air pollution and 31800 healthy life years lost.

“We did not look at the city level or London. However, it is very clear from our results that higher (pollution) is associated with higher risk.”