Today Paris' busy streets will be quieter and sweeter-smelling than normal as swathes of the capital go car free for the day.

For one day private cars – and motorbikes – with diesel or petrol engines are shunned from the city's streets in a bid to raise awareness of the dangerous levels of pollution the city suffers, and to showcase city life without motor cars, where pedestrians and cyclists instead have priority.

Paris Sans Voitures takes place ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, whose goal is to agree a legally binding and universal agreement on climate change from all nations of the world.

Pictures shared on Twitter, where #Parissansvoitures is now trending, show what would normally be car-choked boulevards blissfully quiet.

Between 11.00 and 18.00 the first, second, third and fourth arrondissements – a significant part of the city centre – are strictly car-free. Elsewhere cars will be tolerated at a maximum speed of 20kph (12mph). Taxis, delivery vehicles and emergency vehicles are excluded from the ban

Earlier this year Paris mayor, Anne Hidalgo, introduced emergency measures to tackle dangerous pollution episodes, where vehicles with odd or even numbered plates were banned from the capital for the day. The initiative cut congestion by up to 40%.

While in some places cars have been covered, rather eerily, in white sheets.

And of course, people are cashing in on the event, with segway tours and t-shirts on offer on this unusual day for the French capital.

Could UK cities follow suit?