GORDON Prentice is backing moves to eradicate food policy in Britain calling for national and local strategies to tackle malnutrition.

The Pendle Labour MP is supporting the Private Members Food Justice Strategies Bill.

He said: "A report published in 1999 by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation highlighted that more than four million people in Great Britain did not have access to healthy food and reports by the Malnutrition Advisory Group show up to 5,000 people in constituencies such as Pendle may be malnourished.

"There are several causes for this food poverty, including low income, lack of reasonable access to shops and inadequate information about health foods.

"This is a terrible situation and cannot be allowed to continue. I support any move to improve matters. The new bill will call for the trimming up and implementation of local and national strategies to bring an end to food policy."