We live in ‘UK’s unhealthiest town’ with lots of bars & takeaways… council wants us to be better but we LOVE junk food

RESIDENTS who live in the "UK's unhealthiest town" with dozens of bars and takeaways have said that they LOVE junk food.

Doncaster was named as the seventh unhealthiest place in the country in an official study.

Only Blackpool, Hull, Stoke, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Knowsley were ranked worse in research conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and financial services company Lane, Clark & Peacock.

The Yorkshire City's Silver Street is awash with 11 takeaways serving up bargain pizzas, kebabs and chips to revellers spilling out of its 15 bars and clubs.

And hungry residents can also get grub delivered to their doors by four different delivery firms.

Fiona Cooper, 26, admitted: "I love a takeaway - you can't beat them.

"It's alright to have fast food as long as you're exercising. I'm in the gym five days a week.

"The problems come if you're eating fatty foods but not doing any exercise.

"I feel like people do it for convenience because they don't know what they can cook healthily on a budget.

"I don't think a lot of folks realise that they can knock up a stir fry in a couple of minutes for a couple of quid."

Meike Tomlinson, 25, added: "I love cooking - but now and again I love a greasy kebab.

"I'm not going to eat carrot sticks for breakfast, lunch and dinner, am I?"

In the ONS health index, places were given scores based on a range of health factors such as dementia, cancer, alcohol misuse and adult obesity.

Wokingham in Berkshire was named Britain's healthiest town - with Blackpool coming bottom of the list.

Tyrone Clark, 32, admitted being partial to fast food.

He said: "The next day after a night out - when you're hanging - I want a takeaway. A Chinese is my go-to.

"It's just easy and convenient and it saves having to cook.

"Even when we're shopping, and we're trying to be healthy, it's so expensive.

";All the unhealthy stuff is miles cheaper. You can get a bag of frozen chips for £2.

"A bag of apples might be £1.80 - but you can't make a meal from that."

Councillors in the city have previously proposed limiting takeaway outlets to fight the obesity epidemic in the town.

But Craig Farrell, 35, said it was unfair to target fast food outlets.

He said: "There wouldn't be so many takeaways if it wasn't because of the demand.

"If they're making money, then why should there be a cap? People in Doncaster want fast food, so they order it."

Scott Wordsworth and Sean Jeeves, both 37, said poverty in the city contributed to the number of takeaways.

Scott, a company director, said: "We're Doncaster, not Harrogate - we're not flush with money.

"If you've got a disposable income then it's easier to eat healthy.  

"People don't have the cash to spend a tenner on avocados, eggs and brown bread."

John Griffin, 47, added: "I think there's too many takeaways.

"My main issue is that you don't know what you're eating. I'd be worried about getting food poisoning.

"I prefer to cook for myself but the supermarkets are so expensive.

"I use Home Bargains and B&M because they're cheaper."

The ONS list also shows a marked north-south divide, with Salford, Doncaster and St Helens all making the "unhealthy" top ten.

Dr Jonathan Pearson-Stuttard, who helped lead the study, told the Sunday Times the data should be "a wake-up call to the government to deliver on its manifesto pledge to level up regional inequalities".