The authorities in the Italian city of Milan have banned the use of private cars for much of the day today in an effort to reduce air pollution.

The environment minister, Edo Ronchi, said thirty Italian cities had agreed to implement a total ban over at least four Sundays beginning next month, and he hoped more would sign up to the scheme in the coming weeks.

The BBC Rome correspondent says more than half the population of Italy own cars and most refuse to take public transport, creating gridlock and pollution which is suffocating some cities.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service