Teen calls on council to ban junk food adverts

Oli Porter, 18, has called on Surrey County Council to ban junk food adverts from its property

A teenager is calling for a ban on junk food advertising across Surrey in a bid to end the promotion of unhealthy foods.

Oli Porter, 18, has urged Surrey County Council to remove junk food advertising from its property, such as bus stops, describing it as a "strong start" towards healthier advertising across the region.

His campaign comes ahead of new restrictions on adverts for less healthy products on TV before 21:00 BST, and at any time online, due to come into force in October.

Surrey County Council said it wanted to "embed food in all policies", including developing interventions for junk food advertising.

Mr Porter, from Fetcham near Leatherhead, said: "It's such an important step towards a healthier generation.

"It's not just council owned spaces that I want, but everywhere in Surrey and a total ban on junk food ads."

He has been campaigning with the Bite Back activism movement to end junk food advertising since he was 14 .

He said he wanted the council to follow the example of Transport for London, which banned junk food advertising on its property in 2019.

A council spokesperson said: "The importance of improving the health of Surrey residents and tackling health inequalities is outlined in the Surrey health and wellbeing strategy.

"This report provides a detailed analysis of the impact that food has on healthy locally and provides intelligence informed recommendations on the steps required to improve health."

The council added it had put a "substantial amount of work" into amending its current advertising policy, but this would be passed on to the new unitary authorities in Surrey follow the upcoming local government reorganisation.

A spokesperson for the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) said its upcoming junk food advertising watershed, which will become a legal duty from January 2026, was a "crucial part" of raising the "healthiest generation of children ever".