Experts call for ban on burgers in public transport to fight obesity epidemic

Burgers should be banned from buses and trains to tackle the obesity epidemic, according to experts, who believe curbing junk food would cut the £16 billion a year overweight people cost the NHS.

Delegates at the European Congress on Obesity cited the success of the 2007 ban on smoking in public and the alcohol ban on all London transport last year.

According to professor Jason Halford, of the European Association of Obesity, a similar tactic was ''absolutely needed''.

He added, ''It's become normal to see people eating burgers on buses. It would be a great relief for the bus companies if that wasn't the case. It also would set a norm that we don't consume all the time.''

One in four UK adults is now obese compared to one in 35 in the 1970s. Professor Halford added, ''We eat all the time because there are eating opportunities all the time and the type of food that is most ubiquitous is unhealthy.''

Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, told the conference in Oporto, Portugal: ''We have become used to guzzling on the go so our buses and trains reek of burgers.

According to experts, the ban should also apply to buses.

''We decided it was not acceptable to smoke on trains.

''The scale of this crisis is such that we need to think about bringing food back into the kitchen.''

Boris Johnson banned alcohol from London's transport system in 2008 and smoking on trains ended in 2005. Two years later it was banned on all indoor public spaces.

London Underground already displays signs warning against eating smelly foods and restrictions are in place on food and drinks on Manchester trams.

Speaking at the congress Halford said, ''We have got six new mayors – these are the issues where they should take a lead."