A main road through Waltham Forest will close as part of Clean Air Day plans.

Hoe Street will be closed off to traffic all day on Sunday, September 22 as part of World Car Free Day events running across London which will see 20km of roads pedestrianised for 24 hours.

Waltham Forest Council hopes the event will challenge reliance on cars and highlight the need to improve air quality in the area, which is one of the authority’s long-term ambitions.

The council expects the event will boost the local economy and hopes to build on the previous successes of this year’s Welcome to The Forest event and the annual Leytonstone Car Free Day Festival.

The council also wants more local residents to arrange Street Parties, Play Streets and even Jumble Trails on the day, building on the regular events which already take place.

Cllr Clyde Loakes, deputy council leader and cabinet member for the environment, said: “We have seen already how removing cars from our roads can help stimulate and enhance greater community interaction – helping to achieve improved health and wellbeing, create opportunities for informal play, as well as attracting thousands of people to events like the London Borough of Culture launch event, Welcome to The Forest, in January.

“They also really support our local high streets and shopping parades. The success of the Enjoy Waltham Forest programme has shown where we have introduced two part-time road closures in Orford Road, Walthamstow, and Francis Road, Leyton, these streets are now bustling and shop fronts are now occupied, where previously the parades’ viability as a shopping area were challenged.

“It goes to show that road closures do much more than improving road safety and reducing congestion, they help to improve air quality, support the local economy and encourage healthier, more active lifestyles among our residents.”

The following weekend Leytonstone Loves Film, presented by the Barbican as part of Waltham Forest London Borough of Culture 2019, will take place across Leytonstone as an extension to the annual Leytonstone Car Free Day Festival.

The weekend-long event will have screenings of local and international work, film-inspired workshops and activities, music, talks and installations in cafés, pubs and pop-up venues.

In 2007, more than 56,000 households in the borough were exposed to nitrogen dioxide levels above the EU recommended amount. This reduced by 90 per cent in 2017 to just 6,300 households.

In April, a climate emergency was declared in the borough and the council is one of hundreds putting pressure on the Government to take climate change seriously.

The authority carries out anti-idling operations, has built 26km of segregated cycle lanes as part of its Mini Holland or Enjoy Waltham Forest scheme, has installed “green walls” to block pollution from entering primary school playgrounds and has planted thousands of trees throughout the borough.