FAST food has been taken off the menu by a council-run company which provides school dinners in Leigh after a hard-hitting TV documentary by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.

The Metropolitan Catering and Cleaning Service has removed three turkey fast-food dishes which featured in Jamie Oliver's programme School Dinners.

They have replaced the dishes with healthier options including salads, lasagne, spaghetti bolognaise and chicken dinners.

Now senior management at MCCS has urged parents to join in with the fight to improve the diet of children.

Maria Hawkins, MCCS area manager for Leigh and Tyldesley, said: "We have taken off three turkey products because of the low turkey content. There are healthier options on the menu for pupils to choose from.

"Parents need to take an active role in their children's diets as well.

Children's diets do not start at four years old when they begin school, they start from the moment they are born. There are a lot more working parents who do not have much time to cook, and resort to fast-food options. But we need to educate our children."

The MCCS spends 50p on every school meal - 17p more than the London borough of Greenwich, which featured in Jamie's School Dinners. A new menu is set to be launched on April 25 for school children in Leigh.

Jamie Oliver has led a crusade to improve the quality of school dinners after his documentary revealed the type of fast-food served up in schools.

Education Secretary and Bolton MP Ruth Kelly has since announced that more money would be invested into school dinners and that minimum standards for fat, sugar and salt content in school meals would be set.