BOLTON has the second highest rate of fast food outlets in Greater Manchester according to shock new figures.

The borough has more fast food outlets per 1,000 residents than anywhere else in the region, except Manchester, research from Cambridge University’s Centre for Diet and Activity Research (Cedar), has revealed.

Bolton has 1.50 takeaways for every 1,000 residents—‘significantly more’ than the national average and also higher than neighbouring Bury, Salford and Wigan.

According to Cedar there are a total of 416 takeaways in the borough, which it defines as outlets where hot food is ordered and paid for at the till, with no waiter service and limited – or no – seating options.

These include bakeries such as Greggs as well as the likes of KFC.

However the borough fares well compared to Lancashire neighbours Blackburn and Darwen which has 1.60 takeaways per 1,000 residents and the highest proportion of eateries serving fast food in England.

Cllr Linda Thomas, deputy leader of Bolton Council said the town hall had worked hard to strike a balance between demand for fast food and promoting healthy lifestyles.

She said: “We don’t want people to think we are being draconian about where people open businesses, but as we have responsibility for public health outcomes we have to be careful about how many we allow to open. At planning we are very good at saying ‘there are too m any in that area, it’s not good to have any more.”

David Herne, Bolton Council’s director of public health added: “The correlation between takeaways and people’s health is something we are fully aware of and there does seem to be a concentration of such outlets in our most disadvantaged communities, where obesity levels are at their highest.

“We do need to strike the right balance for our high streets and in 2013 we introduced an updated planning policy which takes into account the proximity of a hot food takeaway to secondary schools – if the site is within 400 metres of a school the council can refuse the application on the grounds it would be harmful to public health. We can also advise businesses on offering a healthy option and promote the Greater Manchester Healthier Catering Awards which encourages reduced sugar, salt and fat in food.”