THE first outing of Oxford's newest guided tour had walkers saying 'this stinks' – in the best possible way.

A whopping 22 masked meanderers joined the inaugural Oxford in Eight Breaths walk this weekend.

The thought-provoking perambulation, launched by two Oxford Brookes University students, took tourists on a guided tour of the city's air pollution problem, from the 10th century up to the present day.

The initial outing on Sunday was joined by Lord Mayor of Oxford Jean Fooks – on a day off – and renowned podcaster Andrew Stuck, who shared his interview with tour guides Katharine McGavin and Mariana Galán on his talkingwalking.net website.

Ms McGavin, 29, said yesterday: "It was really great: we had a lot more people than we expected and we had some really interesting people there."

The arrival of the Lord Mayor was a major coup for the educating entrepreneurs. One of their main aims was to get councillors and people in positions of power to join in the conversation alongside average punters.

Ms McGavin said other councillors, including Oxford City Council leader Bob Price, have already said they are hoping to join future walks.

But she said there was also a lot of 'positive feedback' from citizen strollers who enjoyed the tour's mix of hard facts and time-travelling twists.

She said: "It was such a positive reaction.

"What was really nice is at the end of the walk, when we arrived at the Oxford Hub on Turl Street, we had a big discussion where people could share their stories and experiences on air quality, and Mariana and I went to get a glass of water and the room just erupted in conversations."

The friends, who are studying for Master's degrees in social sculpture and connective practice, came up with the idea for their 'imaginative and sensory journey' as part of a university project, but now hope to use the scheme to raise awareness on a subject which they are both passionate about.

They are particularly keen to reach people who are less informed about air quality and air pollution challenges, and sought expert guidance from the new Oxford Clean Air Action group and Oxfordshire Friends of the Earth.

Anyone interested in taking the toxic tour will have to act fast: at the moment the women are only planning to run it this month and next.

Find out more and book your place at eventbrite.co.uk/e/oxford-in-8-breaths-tickets-35519648224