Wolverhampton in top 10 worst streets in country

A league table ranking 70 towns and cities has been published by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) and Wolverhampton came sixth in the league of shame.

The RSPH looked at how many fast food restaurants, tanning salons, bookmakers and loan shops were on high streets. The study also counted how many leisure centres and health services were available to counteract the negatives.

Dudley Street has two bookmakers, with fast food restaurants such as McDonalds and Greggs dominating the eating options available. And there are a further eight bookies on a 200m stretch from Princess Street to Queen Square.

While the figures will not come as a surprise to many - Broad Street in particular has long been regarded one of the worst city centre streets in the country with its sex shops and kebab houses - they will be a blow to Wolverhampton City Council bosses who are trying to implement health-based initiatives alongside a multi-million pound revamp of the city centre.

Unhealthiest high streets:

1. Preston

2. Middlesbrough

3. Coventry

4. Blackpool

5. Northampton

6. Wolverhampton

7. Grimsby

8. Huddersfield

9. Stoke on Trent

10. Eastbourne

Healthiest high streets:

1. Shrewsbury

2. Ayr

3. Salisbury

4. Perth

5. Hereford

6. Carlisle

7. Cambridge

8. Cheltenham

9. York

The findings have been branded 'yet another dreadful statistic' by the council's opposition leader, who has called for the authority to 'sort out the mess' in the city centre.

Tory leader Councillor Wendy Thompson said: "For too many years the council has ignored the problems that blight our city and has been content to blame central Government.

"There are real issues here that need to be tackled. The council should be apologising to the people of the city for the neglect they have shown.

"They have failed to attract the right sort of shops. We need a good dose of affluence rather than what is currently on offer.

"The council needs to sort out the mess, but people will rightly have little faith in them being able to do so."

Shrewsbury, 30 miles away from Wolverhampton, has been ranked as the healthiest town in the country.

And Walsall was the 13th healthiest in the study, which also looked at how many pharmacies, health centres, art galleries and libraries places had.

The unhealthiest town or city was Preston, ahead of Middlesbrough, Coventry, Blackpool and Northampton.

Pubs and bars were also included on the healthy lists as the RSPH said its research had found the majority of the public believed they support social interaction while many said they have a positive effect on mental well-being.

Council bosses in Wolverhampton recently launched a campaign to end the city's obesity crisis.

Latest figures show that around 70 per cent of residents are obese, one of the highest rates in the country.

Just 28 per cent of Wolverhampton's adults are classed as being at a healthy weight.

As part of its anti-obesity campaign health chiefs are asking they city's people to walk one million miles between them.

Last year, restrictions were placed on the amount of burger vans in the city centre, a move that eventually reduced the number of vans from 10 to nine.

The council is part way through a long-running revamp of the city centre's roads that it hopes will make the area more accessible to shoppers.

RSPH chief executive Shirley Cramer said: "While our ranking of towns and cities is by no means a reflection on whether these areas are generally healthy or unhealthy, our research does find higher concentrations of unhealthy businesses exist in places which already experience high levels of deprivation and premature mortality.

"We recognise that businesses investing in high streets are important for local economies; but this shouldn't be at any price."