The Leicester Air Monitoring Project (LAMP) was a pilot programme that involved the deployment of a range of state-of-the-art analytical instruments to probe the polluted urban atmosphere alongside “standard” techniques currently employed in the UK for statutory air quality monitoring. In partnership with Leicester City Council and the Universities of Leicester, York, Manchester and Royal Holloway, a multitude of techniques were deployed, included Chemical Ionisation Reaction Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (CIR-TOF-MS), Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS), Proxy Radical Chemical Amplification (PERCA), Light Detection And Ranging (LIDAR) and 2-Dimensional Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (2D-GC-MS). During a three-month period the urban air was mapped in high detail, key pollutants were detected and temporal trends were identified. The precursor work conducted during LAMP was instrumental in the development of following projects, including JOAQUIN and JAAQS.