I live on Britain’s ‘unhealthiest’ street with 20 takeaways – our children are sacrificing themselves for fried food
FURIOUS residents living in Britain’s “unhealthiest” street say they’ve been invaded by takeaways and fear for the future of their children.
Fed-up locals in Newham, East London, are begging the council to avoid adding to the more than 20 chicken shops that currently align Barking Road.
Two years ago, Newham Council promised locals it would stop handing licences to the businesses to stop promoting an unhealthy lifestyle.
But residents claim not enough is being done to implement “effective policies” after more restaurants opened last year.
They now fear their area has turned into a take-away hot spot – with anti-social behaviour on the rise.
Resident Sian, 45, said: “It’s horrible, it makes our street look cheap and there’s a lot of families moving in now who are worried about their children because the high street attracts a lot of gangs.
“It’s up to the council to decide what type of premises can be on the street and they have done nothing.
“The council needs to close half of these palaces down and be more picky with what they open. We’ve tried to stop them but they haven’t really done anything.”
Others living in the area claim the “excessive amount” of establishments is affecting their lives – with the smell of oil getting into their homes.
Fellow resident Maria Tabirta, 25, fumed: “It gets extremely smelly, it’s everywhere you go. I can even smell it from my home.
“I walk up this street to go to work every day. Because of all the shops in the area many people come here and I can’t even find my way up the street.
“All the shops sell similar stuff. Just fried chicken. It’s enough!”
Maria Maximovych, 28, claimed the area is not safe and claimed it is flooded with trash and chicken bones.
She said: “The council needs to clean this area more. People keep throwing away chicken and chips everywhere.
“There are no bins around here either. It just looks dirty and sad.”
Parents are worried their children’s lives could be at risk because of the lack of healthy options in the area.
Mum-of-three Rosemary Asante, 40, said: “I’m fighting hard to stop my children from getting that filthy stuff. The council is not helping, it’s so hard to get them to do something. We’ve been complaining about this for years.
“It seems it’s on us to take care of the situation. I feel helpless. Our children are sacrificing their lives for a box of fried food.”
Iyke, 46, who works as a food science teacher added: “I try to teach my students to eat better but what can you do when all they see is chicken and chips. They can’t afford to buy anything else.
“The council needs to help us out through vouchers. How do you expect us to live a healthy life if this is all we have?”
But other locals disagree and are chuffed to have so many fast food eateries just a few steps away from their houses.
Mum-of-three Fouzia, 31, said: “We love going there once in a while with the kids.
“Although they all seem to sell the same thing, they don’t taste the same.”
Mua Khan, 43, added: “It’s very nice to have all these chicken shops a few steps away from our home. I know there are a lot of them, but it’s never too much good fried chicken.”
Newham Council said it can’t restrict the existing takeaway food places from opening.
But it has implemented planning policies to stop new emerging eateries.
A spokesperson added: “All local authorities, including Newham, are bound by national planning and licensing laws and are therefore limited in how much they can regulate new businesses.
“As far as it is permitted to, Newham Council does seek to restrict the concentration of certain businesses, like takeaways and betting shops.
“However recent new legislation, introduced in 2020, further relaxed the planning laws which makes it easier for businesses to open up without the need of permission from the local authority.”