Council puts up banners celebrating fast food dish in town hit by obesity crisis

BANNERS celebrating a fatty fast food dish have been put up by a council in a town hit by an obesity crisis.

Parmo and chips is a 2,600-calorie deep-fried dish popular in Middlesbrough — where almost a quarter of Year 6 pupils are classed as obese.

But the local authority has spent £13,000 on signs promoting the town including one that reads: “We are parmo and chips.”

Officials have come in for fierce criticism over the signs about parmo — a deep-fried breadcrumbed pork or chicken parcel coated in cheesy sauce.

Matt Storey, leader of the opposition Labour group, said: “These banners are insulting and reduce Middlesbrough to cheap stereotypes.

“There is far more to Middlesbrough than parmos and clichés.”

And Antony High, leader of the Middlesbrough Independent Group, said: “They are very belittling and poor for the town.”

Mayor Andy Preston admitted some would be removed. He said: “Two or three are ill-conceived and need taking down.

“I’ve already asked for them to be removed.”