Don't block Burger King to cut obesity because it 'won't work' Sheffield health officials told

Coun Joe Otten, chair of the Waste and Street Scene Policy Committee, said it would be unreasonable to take away people’s choices, or restrict business, and it would not change diets.

Greg Fell, director of public health at Sheffield City Council, had said the authority’s Food Strategy would be “taken into consideration” when asked about the fast food chain’s bid to open on Fargate.

The proposal had stoked fears the area would become the “scoffing capital of Yorkshire” due to the high concentration of junk food outlets including McDonald’s, Greggs, Wendy’s and German Doner Kebab.

The Food Strategy aims to tackle the city's obesity problem by enabling people to make healthier choices, Mr Fell said.

But Coun Otten, a Lib Dem, said he needed to come up with a better idea.

He said: “Promoting good health is important but public health officials need to come up with a better idea than taking away choices. It’s unreasonable to stop people having the meal they want. It’s not reasonable to restrict business or an effective way to change people’s diets.”

Coun Otten also opposes a draft policy that would ban new takeaways within 800m of schools or where there is a risk of ‘over concentration’ that would harm locations by reducing the range of shops.

He said previously: “Takeaway hot food in all its tremendous diversity is a part of the city’s culture and we should embrace it. Yes we should be trying to eat a reasonably balanced diet overall, but ‘hot takeaway’ doesn’t have to be a poor dietary choice and it isn’t right for the council to try to micromanage our personal decisions like this. Who can say if people denied hot food locally won’t just drive further if they can, or get a delivery, or graze on snack food which is even worse? This just hasn’t been thought through.”

Burger King last month announced it was hiring 30 ahead of opening in the former Pret a Manger cafe at the junction of Fargate and High Street.