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Under the scheme, residents in 23 towns and cities will be able to check how noisy their area is by visiting a new government website.

Ministers says the scheme represents the most thorough attempt yet to grasp the scale of a problem that some studies have linked to serious illness and educational

The maps, drawn up by the Department for Transport, the Highways Agency, Network Rail and the Environment Agency to meet an EU directive, will be used to help cut noise in the worst-affected areas and cover 50,000 miles of roads and 3,000 miles of railways, as well as industrial sites and airports.

"They will provide a springboard to go forward and tackle unnecessary and unreasonable noise pollution," says environment minister Jonathan Shaw. "We will use them to draw up action plans to reduce noise where practical from major roads and railways, as well as from urban areas."

In February, a European Commission-funded study of people living near airports found that the roar of engines instantly raised blood pressure. High blood pressure can lead to stroke, heart failure, heart attack and kidney failure.

In 2005, a team from Queen Mary's School of Medicine, found loud aircraft noise could impair children's ability to read and perform memory tests.