Take away our fast food shops

A crackdown on takeaways is being launched in the run-up to the Olympics.

Waltham Forest, one of the host boroughs for the 2012 Games, is waging war on junk food shops after a poll revealed residents saw them as a blight.

There are 600 food outlets in the borough - one for every 370 residents - raising concerns about litter and yobs on the streets outside premises. Council leader Clyde Loakes said Waltham Forest "should be synonymous with change, progress and achievement, not grease, chicken and litter". He continued: "In our borough there is a café or takeaway for every 370 residents. A lot of them are selling junk. Enough is enough. We're picking on all junk food outlets."

Waltham Forest's takeaways include branches of KFC, Southern Fried Chicken, Chicken Cottage and McDonald's - which is an official sponsor of the International Olympic Committee.

The council will monitor all takeaways for licence breaches such as littering or attracting anti-social behaviour at night.

Trading standards officers will carry out spot-checks on shops and officials will visit schools to lecture pupils on litter. Nationally, there have been calls for teachers to ban pupils leaving school to visit takeaways at lunchtime.

Waltham Forest aims to stop new outlets from opening. Councils also have powers under the Local Government Act 2000 and Clean Neighbourhoods Act 2005 to issue "litter clearing notices" requiring businesses to clean up their mess.

Failure to comply could result in a £2,500 fine. Takeaways can also be fined up to £20,000 fine for excessive lighting.

A KFC in Sutton was fined £1,500 for illegally dumping waste in 2006.

Mr Loakes added: "Residents keep giving the same response again and again: that they're sick of the blight on our streets. The council holds the power to improve the environment for our residents and I, as leader, will test its ability to do this." The poll was by Ipsos MORI.