How to lose weight: Avoid petrol stations!

DRIVERS should pay for fuel at the pumps instead of inside petrol stations to lose weight, a health expert has claimed.

Professor Susan Jebb said it was crucial to avoid the tempting treats inside the shops.

The Oxford University academic told the Commons health committee that impulse purchases were an ever-present danger.

‘One of the things that really strikes me is the sheer availability of food everywhere,’ she said.

‘DIY shops, clothes shops, goodness knows what, now have sweets on the checkout,’ she said. ‘Those impulse purchases do matter. If we really want to shape the wider food environment I would be just as concerned about those impulse purchases in non-food outlets.’

MPs were also told that advertising rules were a ‘shocking scam’ that did not protect children from junk food promotions on social media. Former advertising executive Dan Parker said youngsters were being bombarded by adverts on Facebook and Twitter despite the regulations.