Councils are rushing to make political capital out of declaring climate change emergencies while failing to reduce pollution linked to one in 19 deaths on their own doorsteps, a leading think tank has warned.

An analysis by Centre for Cities which advises Whitehall reveals that in the death rate in the most polluted cities and towns rises to one in 16, double that of the “cleanest.”

It blames the failure of local authorities to introduce clean air zones and other measures that could reduce the death rate from pollution, which is 25 times greater than the risk of being killed in a car crash.

It says councils have been more concerned with declaring climate change emergencies in the past year than taking practical steps could “clearly make a difference” by combating pollution and saving lives.

“Local policy aimed at limiting air pollution in recent years has at best been slow and at worst absent,” says the think tank in its annual study of urban areas.