EAST Lancashire is clogging up a national obesity league table which ranks the country's fattest boroughs.

Four councils have been included in a top 20 of local authority areas with the biggest waist lines.

Blackburn with Darwen, Hyndburn, Burnley and Pendle were all on the list headed by Hull.

The figures were based on hospital admission records to find the highest concentrations of Type 2 diabetes which, linked to poor diet and a lack of exercise, is a key indicator of obesity.

Researchers identified bad health hotspots using information on consumer spending patterns, working history, housing, incomes and lifestyles.

The report, released by data analysts Experian, claims obesity is a class problem and is linked to low self-esteem.

It reports that affluent areas of Britain are in the table of the least obese local authority areas.

Stephen Morton, the director of public health for Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley, said: "These areas do have some traditional health inequality problems and lifestyle problems compared to other areas.

"The area traditionally has quite a high fat diet, for example quick meals and take-aways, pies and chips and the like. Even ethnic minorities cooking is based on frying and a lot of fat.

"People tend to eat less fruit and veg than they should. People get less exercise in their jobs and nobody walks or cycles to work anymore. We have become more dependant on motor transport."

"We know we have potential problems in the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes and some cancers as well because of this. These are issues we are aware of and changing that is going to be a challenge.

"The report is based on hospital admissions and admission rates in Lancashire are among the highest in the country. This might explain why we have four local authorities in the top 20."

Suzie Gecsei, a manager at Sportlife Gym in Blackburn, said: "If people want to lose weight, what they have to do is increase the number of calories they burn off. They can do this by simply getting out of the car and walking to where they are going. It is recommended that people should do three 30 minute sessions of exercise a week minimum. It can be done, the hardest part is starting."

The Department of Health has been taking steps to tackle obesity.

As part of the Healthy Schools Programme they will soon provide every four to six year old with free fruit at school and are persuading schools to have healthy eating school meals and vending machines.

The NHS is also accommodating an exercise referral scheme through GPs prescribing people exercise classes tailored to meet the physical needs and abilities of those taking part.

Obesity costs the NHS half a billion pounds a year as spending on obesity drugs has gone through the roof.