Takeaway shops soar in areas with the worst obesity rising by up to a third

Takeaway restaurants have surged by up to a third in a year in some areas despite a Government crackdown on fast food, it can be revealed today.

The number of outlets has increased in four out of ten councils with the most obese districts the worst affected.

In Rossendale in Lancashire – where 27 per cent of the population is obese – the number of takeaways has gone up by 33 per cent in a year, according to Daily Mail analysis.

Some 25 outlets were counted by the newspaper in less than a quarter of a mile in the district. 

In West Lindsey in Lincolnshire – where 71 per cent of adults are overweight or obese – the number of takeaways has risen by a quarter.

And they have gone up by 22 per cent in Hyndburn, also in Lancashire, where 68 per cent of the adult population are overweight or obese.

The Government promised to reduce the number of takeaways in June 2018 as part of a strategy to counter childhood obesity.

Officials pledged to help councils ‘use their powers’ to restrict the opening of new outlets, revealing that the nation was eating 100million takeaways every week.

Public Health England – the agency responsible for tackling obesity – went further that same month by urging local authorities to stop fast food joints opening in areas of high obesity.

But figures from the Office for National Statistics show the number of outlets across the UK rose from 39,310 in 2018 to 40,170 in 2019, an increase of 2.2 per cent.

And since 2015 they have risen by 9 per cent. A total of 159 out of 380 councils saw takeaways increase in the last year.

It comes after it was reported yesterday that hundreds of thousands of norovirus cases are caused by dodgy takeaways every year.

Out of the 380,000 food-borne illnesses caused by the bug, almost two-thirds were linked to eating out or takeaways, the Food Standards Agency said.

Discussing the increasing number of outlets, Toby Green, policy manager at the Royal Society of Public Health said: ‘We know that the problem is concentrated in the most deprived areas – which on average have five times more fast food shops than the most affluent areas.’

Anna Taylor, from the Food Foundation, a charity promoting healthier and more sustainable food, said: ‘Fast food outlets often offer discounts for school children and present a cheap, convenient alternative to school meals.’

A Daily Mail reporter counted 25 takeaways or shops selling fast food within a 30 second walk in Haslingden, the main town in Rossendale in Lancashire.

Ann Kenyon, Labour councillor for Rossendale, said: ‘There are very deprived areas in Haslingden, and people can get a meal like pizza and chips for £1.99, so there is a demand, but it’s just fuelling the obesity problem.’

Councillor Ian Hudspeth, chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, said local authorities did not have enough planning powers to restrict takeaways and tackle the ‘obesity epidemic’.