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'Suspect' league table rates Wolverhampton in top 10 unhealthy towns, says council chief

A council chief says a league table which put Wolverhampton in the top 10 of a national list of unhealthy towns and cities is 'suspect'.

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The city placed sixth in the Royal Society for Public Health league of shame, which ranked places of their amount of fast food joints, bookmakers and money lending outlets.

The study also counted how many leisure centres and health services were available to counteract the negatives.

But Wolverhampton City Council leader Roger Lawrence insisted work was being done to improve the high street.

He said: "The methodology of this survey is suspect.

"There are encouraging examples of regeneration taking place in Wolverhampton and it is our number one priority to see more of this coming forward.

"Labour in Wolverhampton is campaigning for powers to restrict betting shops and fixed odds machines.

"We have also taken powers to limit licensed premises in consultation with the police.

"However, the council does not have and would not want draconian powers to control the types of shops in the city as these are subject to market forces."

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