THE headteacher of a North-East school says that children should be charged for taking packed lunches to school.

Margaret Bousfield, of Fens Primary School, in Hartlepool, believes the move would force children to eat healthy school dinners and ditch junk food snack boxes.

Her comments follow a national report that found youngsters are snubbing Jamie Oliver-inspired healthy school dinners.

The number of children choosing school dinners at primary schools in Hartlepool has fallen since the start of the year.

Mrs Bousfield said: "My concern about packed lunches is that, in many schools, meals are healthy and some schools are seeing an increase in packed lunches.

"It seems nationally more and more children are taking packed lunches and there seems to be an outcry against Jamie Oliver."

She added: "I am not saying that every child has an unhealthy packed lunch."

A document presented to a Hartlepool Borough Council scrutiny forum reports Mrs Bousfield as saying: "The Government should allow schools to charge young people to bring packed lunches into school.

"There are cost implications for allowing young people to eat packed lunches in schools and introducing a cost may enhance the take-up of what are very healthy school meals."

Councillor Rob Cook, of Hart ward, said: "If more children are on packed lunches it will cost a little bit extra out of the budget, but we have to supervise them whatever.

"I think that it would be foolish to charge them to bring in their own food."