A HUGE rise in the number of takeaways in Bradford has seen 240 open their doors in the last eight years.

Despite planning legislation in place to keep the eateries away from schools, parks and leisure centres, the laws surrounding takeaways have been branded “a joke” by a leading councillor - with more than 400 now established in the district.

New figures have revealed that 180 takeaways were open for businesses in 2010, but eight years later the number has gone up rapidly to 420, with some of them opening next door to each other.

This is the second largest increase in the country behind Lancashire, where 265 opened over the same period of time.

In some parts of Bradford close to the city centre, four out of a row of six shops are a takeaway.

The amount of fast food shops now in Bradford means that for every 100,000 people living in the city, there are 79 shops.

Councillor Jeanette Sunderland, Leader of the authority’s Liberal Democrat group, said: “I understand people have to make a living, but some takeaways are a blight on our lives.

“Not only are they unhealthy, but they blight our lives with their litter and mess, and the spoil the mix of our high street.”

Planning legislation has been put in place to prevent takeaways from being within 400 metres of schools or leisure centres, but Cllr Sunderland says this method is not working.

“Planning law is a joke,” she added.

“They have allowed cafes and takeaways to open when they shouldn’t have been and it continues to this day.

“It makes a mockery of the council’s Public Health and we have to have a reconsideration of how we enforce legislation.

“There’s a number of people who want a takeaway who order it to their home and have no idea about its public health rating.

“If you went into a restaurant and the bins were overflowing and it was dirty then you wouldn’t go there.”

The latest obesity figures show that in Bradford around 22 per cent of Reception aged children are classed as overweight or obese.

By the time they reached Year 6 at the end of primary school, that had risen to 37.9 per cent, above the UK average of 34.2 per cent.

Councillor John Pennington, Leader of Bradford Council’s Conservative Group, said: “The increase in the number, while huge, does not surprise me.

“It amazes me they all make a profit, but they deal in a lot of cash and I suppose food raw materials is relatively cheap to buy.

“The thing that does horrify me is youngsters don’t seem to be taught how to cook and gone are the days that your mother would make a roast dinner, so it’s easier for them to go and buy something.

“Sometimes it’s healthier to cook at home. Takeaway food isn’t the healthiest with all the salt and sugar, and from a council perspective it must be a nightmare policing them all.”

A spokesperson for Bradford Council defended the planning laws and explained how they had stopped takeaways from opening.

They said: “Since we brought in the planning restrictions of no takeaways within 400 metres of a school in November 2014, the council has refused almost 50 applications for takeaways that would have otherwise opened.

“Earlier this year the council refused a planning application to turn a former bank in Wibsey into at takeaway on the basis that there was ‘an over concentration of hot food takeaways in the vicinity’.

“However a Government planning inspector overturned this decision.

“We are mindful of balancing the need for businesses to thrive with the drive to promote healthy eating, which is why we have worked over the last three years with takeaway outlets to reduce the salt, fat and calorie content in their meals.

“We have also suggested they offer smaller portions alongside the standard portions, and to offer water as an alternative to sugary drinks.”