O2 has revealed it is working on a project that could result in people receiving text alerts about the air quality in their immediate vicinity.

The mobile operator said it was currently trialling sensor technologies in London and Cambridge that would allow it to monitor air pollution and air quality levels in real time and provide that information to people using their mobile phones.

Speaking at the UK Technology, Innovation and Growth Forum, O2 vice president of research and development Mike Short admitted the project might appear a strange area for the mobile operator to investigate.

But he insisted the mobile industry was currently experiencing ever tighter integration with the emerging environmental management sector as it looks for ways to offer richer content over their mobile phones.

"People might ask 'why would we do that?' But it is a very useful technology, " he said. "We could use the information [from the sensors] to tell people not to go down a that street, or use it to tell transport and environmental managers when they have an air quality problem as soon as it occurs."