Six out of ten Croydon residents are overweight, according to data released by a government health agency on Tuesday.

The report by Public Health England (PHE) on the percentage of adults who are obese or overweight nationwide, found 62.1 per cent of people in the borough carry extra weight.

Although better than the national average which stood at 63.8 per cent, this figure is worse than the overall average for London of 57.3%.

Copeland in west Cumbria has the highest percentage of overweight individuals in the country.

Worries over the effects of obesity and being overweight, and the need to play an active role in tackling the issue, prompted Croydon Council to begin the Heart Town initiative in July last year.

This was launched in partnership with the British Heart Foundation, who has described it as “a scheme where entire communities come together to fight heart disease”.

Excess body fat has also been linked to diabetes, high blood pressure and various types of cancers.

Dr Yvonne Doyle, London Regional Director at Public Health England, said: “There is no silver bullet to reducing obesity. It is an issue that requires action at national, local family and individual level.”

She added that the new findings “will enable local authorities to monitor progress towards our shared ambition of achieving a downward trend in excess weight by 2020”.