FAST food giant McDonalds is calling for Bradford Council to re-think its plan to bar takeaways from opening outside schools.

The Council has suggested banning new takeaways from opening within 400m of a school, youth centre, play area or park, in a bid to tackle childhood obesity.

Existing takeaways would be unaffected.

But McDonalds has called on the Council to drop the plans, saying there is a lack of evidence linking fast food outlets outside schools to obesity levels.

In an official objection to the proposals, the chain says it has made great strides to make its menus healthier over the past decade, and adds that "a blanket restriction on location is unjustified".

Bradford's Conservative group has also lodged its official opposition to the Labour-led authority's plans.

Councillor Simon Cooke, deputy Conservative leader, was reluctant to ally himself with McDonalds, but he said the chain had a point when it said there was a lack of evidence to back up the ban.

He said he could complain about "nannying fussbucketry" but his main concern was that the ban simply wouldn't work in bringing down obesity levels.

Cllr Cooke said this was because the rules wouldn't apply to existing takeaways or those in the city centre, and that they also wouldn't stop children from visiting sweet shops or cafes.

He said: "It's almost like we need to be seen to be doing something, and this is something we can do, but it doesn't address the problem."

However, the plan has won the support of a number of doctor's surgeries, health organisations and residents' groups.

The Council's Executive will next week decide whether to introduce the ban, which would also bar takeaways from opening beyond 11pm in residential areas and stop 'clusters' of takeaways from appearing.

Councillor Val Slater, executive member for planning, said a lot of authorities across the country were introducing similar rules.

She said she recognised it wouldn't be the full solution to the problem of obesity, but that it was "part of the jigsaw".

On the objection from McDonalds, Cllr Slater (Lab) said: "This is about individual people in Bradford and their needs should come first, before the needs of a multi-national company."