Takeaway near school closed down

Bamboo joint was given three days to close down

A new fast food shop near two east London schools has been asked to move after flouting the council's ban on takeaways near schools.

Bamboo Joint was within the 400m of Tom Hood Secondary School and Mayville Primary School and also Langthorne Park, Waltham Forest Council said.

Officials raided the Leytonstone shop and posted a closure order, giving the owners three days to shut down.

The order is the first since the ban came into effect last year.

The council set up the 400m exclusion zone around schools, parks and youth centres to tackle child obesity, littering and anti-social behaviour following complaints from residents.

Bamboo Joint, which sells Caribbean food, had opened up six weeks ago.

Council leader Clyde Loakes said: "This fast-food outlet has not got planning permission and has absolutely no chance of getting it, because of its proximity to a park and a school, so we're closing it down.

"A lot of fast food outlets do their business with schoolchildren, in competition with the healthy schools agenda.

"Obesity is a big problem for young people and we've got to... use all the power we have to deal with that."