TRADERS have bemoaned the “explosion” of fast food outlets to have set up shop in Southend, as figures show it eclipses neighbouring south Essex boroughs.

A study reveals the town has the most number of fast food outlets in the east of England.

Public Health England has released the research which shows that there are 213 fast food outlets in Southend, which works out at 119.7 per 100,000 people –much more than the national average which is 88 per 100,000 people.

In Basildon, there are 149 takeaway shops, which works out as 82.5 per 100,000 people and in Castle Point the figure is just 65 shops - 73.1 per 100,000 people.

The organisation has also found that a fifth of adults and children eat takeaway food at least once a week, which it believes contributes to the growing levels of obesity across the nation.

Roger Fisher, 66, who ran Doodah’s for 36 years, says he has seen the number of fast food places take off since he opened up in Marine Parade back in 1980

Mr Fisher, who has taken early retirement after his doughnut shop closed for good last weekend, said: “When I arrived there just used to be places in central Southend and on the seafront.

“If you look now, there’s places within a hundred yards of each other all along London Road, as well as those in the usual places.

“Compared to when I opened up, I think the number of takeaways has certainly made things more difficult for us. I closed because I couldn’t get my lease renewed, but the competition certainly hasn’t helped.”

John Lamb, leader of Southend Council, believes that people should take responsibility for their own health and the health of their children.

The research comes just months after the NHS Southend and NHS Castle Point and Rochford Clinical Commissioning groups revealed they were reviewing their policies about orthopaedic care, which could see patients who are obese denied surgery until they lose weight.

Mr Lamb agreed there was an excess of takeaway shops in the town and said he would like to see more healthy options. He believes education in schools can help cut down on the rising obesity epidemic in the borough’s schools.

This follows the Echo revealing at the beginning of the year that nearly 18 per cent of Year 6 pupils were obese. He said: “There are various things we do such as going into schools with the environmental health team to make sure we encourage healthy eating and teaching children to be responsible.

“There comes a time when parents must take responsibility for their own children and what they feed them and for young people to realise that if they eat too much fast food they run the risk of becoming obese.”