A LEADING GP of 35 years believes shops should be banned from selling fast food and unhealthy snacks near schools.

Dr Geoff Joliffe voiced his call for restrictions on the locations of fast food outlets after a 'provocative' plea for food to be banned on public transport.

Professor Dame Sally Davies, nicknamed the nation's 'nanny-in-chief' for her bold public health interventions, believes only water should be allowed on buses and trains in a bid to cut down on kids eating unhealthy snacks.

Her hard-hitting suggestion comes after new NHS figures show a third of children in England aged 10 and 11 are overweight.

Dr Joliffe, a dad-of-seven, believes such a restrictive move would go against the need to encourage more people to use public transport.

"What we should be looking at instead is banning the sale of fast food near bus and train stations," the Risedale Surgery GP said.

"I think it would be outrageous to ban food completely on trains; it would be too much state interference."

Dr Joliffe describes himself as a 'firm believer in protecting freedoms' and believes the health service and schools have a vital role in helping parents to make the right choices for their children.

"I don't think we should have fast food outlets near schools; when I was at school the tuckshops sold cakes and buns," he added.

"All parents face challenges in getting it right with their children; I know I have done, which is why it's good for schools to help us."

Dr Joliffe said this had been successfully implemented in the past by encouraging children to remind their parents to wear a seatbelt.

"In the same way children are being taught about the dangers of alcohol and cigarettes so they disapprove of their parents making such lifestyle choices," he said.

"I think there is a serious public health message in what Dame Sally is saying, in that we need to stop eating as much unhealthy food, and she's perhaps being a bit provocative in order to get the results she - and we as a country - want."