More than 1,000 Clean Air Zone signs will have a new message on them after scheme put on pause

Stickers which will be put on Clean Air Zone (CAZ) signs with the wrong date on them will read 'Under Review', Greater Manchester leaders have revealed.

More than 1,000 CAZ signs installed across the city-region currently state the original start date of May 30 – but the scheme has now been delayed.

It comes after the government agreed to move the deadline it set for Greater Manchester to lower air pollution below legal limits by two years to 2026.

READ MORE: 'You can literally taste the fumes': Homeowner's fury over 'horrendous' pollution outside house as Clean Air Zone delayed

Greater Manchester leaders will now work with the government to design a 'substantially different' scheme which could come into force as soon as July.

Stickers saying 'Under Review' will be used to cover the 1,194 out-of-date signs – but this work will not be covered by the £3m contract for signage.

The cost of the stickers are yet to be finalised, but a spokesperson for Clean Air Greater Manchester has now confirmed it will be funded by government.

The spokesperson said: "Government has agreed to lift a legal direction requiring the implementation of a charging Clean Air Zone (CAZ) in Greater Manchester and, therefore, charges will no longer apply from May 2022.

"Greater Manchester’s 10 local authorities now have until 1 July 2022 to work with government to develop a new plan.

"All costs associated with the new plan, including the essential requirement to update existing signage, will continue to be funded by government."

The update came as councillors from each borough convened at a Greater Manchester Air Quality Administration Committee meeting on Monday (February 28) to discuss the latest developments with the Clean Air Zone.

According