Hyndburn obesity stats among highest in region
STUART PIKE
MORE than two-thirds of adults in Hyndburn are overweight or obese, new figures have revealed, as the government launches a strategy to tackle the problem.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson - who struggles with his own weight - has announced a range of measures to help people shed the pounds, including a ban on some junk food promotions and stricter advertising controls.
It comes after a Public Health England report found excess weight dramatically increases the risk of being admitted to hospital or dying from Covid-19.
Its latest figures show 68.8 per cent of adults in Hyndburn were classed as overweight or obese in 2018/19.
The equivalent figures for other East Lancashire boroughs were Burnley
AC OUNCILLOR who organises regular litter picks and ‘calls in’ frequent flytipping says his efforts are “futile” as he and volunteers fight a rising tide of waste.
Coun Glen Harrison, for St Oswald’s, has so far seen a caravan dumped on Haslingden Old Road, numerous instances of takeaway littering on New Lane in Oswaldtwistle, and constant fly-tipping of tyres and building waste in Belthorn.
Coun Harrison carries out regular litter picks in New Lane, but says less than a week later the same amount of litter is back, with people often throwing McDonald’s waste from their car window.
He said: “We have a wealth of fly-tipping. It’s constant. When going around the bend in New Lane, people chuck McDonald’s or KFC out the window. We had a 71, Blackburn with Darwen 64, Ribble Valley 59.5, Pendle 62.1, and Rossendale 66. The England average is 62.
Hyndburn Council leader Coun Miles Parkinson said: “The borough has improved for overweight and obese residents, from worst in clean-up operation on Sunday (July 26) and collected lots of bags, which waste management picked up.
“I drove down the road yesterday and already people have chucked their rubbish. In Belthorn there’s fly-tipping on an industrial scale. New Lane is frustrating because we just cleaned it.”
Coun Harrison now wants cameras installed as a deterrent. the county, from number one in the country. But this figure is still worrying and there is still a lot to do.”
Doctors, charities and campaign groups have welcomed the government’s plans, but some say they don’t go far enough.
He said: “I think the issue is that the waste management companies that come to take your rubbish away are dumping the rubbish.
“People who know cameras are there cover their registration number or their faces. Belthorn would be top of my list for new cameras.
“But it is futile - demoralising.
“We need cameras and convictions. They need to be scared and there needs it’s to be a long term solution, which I suggest would be the installation of cameras.
“The council can’t keep cleaning it up because of resources and issues.
“It costs each time they do it.
“Once a boat was dumped on Vine Mill and it was there for two years.
“I have found dirty nappies before and evidence of drug use.
“The only long term solution is cameras.”