Buses could be soon cleaning up the air in cities across the UK if a prototype in Southampton proves successful.

Public transport operator Go-Ahead Group today revealed a bus fitted with a filtration system that can detoxify the air to reduce pollution.

The system is produced by British firm Pall Aerospace and mounted on top of a Bluestar bus. It traps air when the vehicle is moving forward then removes ultra-fine, harmful particles and releases cleaner air behind it.

Southampton was chosen to pioneer the prototype after the World Health Organisation said the south coast city was at its limit of unsafe air pollution.

Steve Simpson, senior director of marketing for Pall Aerospace, said: “Our team is proud of the results on the filtering bus project, and we are excited to see it in action with our partner Go-Ahead.

“We used our knowledge of aerospace filtration to design and build a product that will help clean the air of the cities in which we live by removing the particulates that are a major component of air pollution.”

David Brown, chief executive of Go-Ahead Group, said: “We want this pilot to show that buses should be looked at as not just the solution to congestion in cities, but also as a solution to the air quality problem.

“As the bus removes the ultra-fine particles from the air as it travels along the route, it is helping solve the air quality problems of the city. This bus will clean the air on its route 1.7 times a year to a height of ten metres – imagine the change we could make to air quality if all buses had this technology.”

It’s unknown how long the trial scheme will last, but Go-Ahead runs more than 5,000 buses and if the prototype is a success the system could be installed across its fleet.