TV chef Jamie Oliver has called for more to be done to stop junk food outlets opening near UK schools as he continues his fight against childhood obesity.

Oliver said Britain’s Department of Health was investing in educating children about healthy eating but local councils were issuing trading licences allowing fast food outlets to open shops near schools.

“You can’t have one arm of the Government investing money in food education and school lunches and then have another part promoting junk food, en masse, to be licensed and given permission to trade within a stone’s throw of a school,” Oliver said.

Oliver has been campaigning to tackle childhood obesity for the past decade, and has taken his campaign worldwide.

Two seasons of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution have been broadcast in the US, and he has just gained funding from the Australian government to teach people basic cooking skills.

“There is not one country on the planet which has smashed it. Not one country where obesity levels are coming down,” he said.