PEOPLE are being urged to swap chips for fresh fruit and veg with an innovative project designed to transform their whole lifestyle.

The Healthy Living Centre, in Port Clarence, Stockton, is encouraging local people to opt for a more nutritional diet by offering subsidised meals during the week and workshops in how to cook.

North Tees Primary Care Trust (PCT) and Stockton Borough Council are funding the six-month pilot scheme in the hope people will expand their cooking repertoire and ditch the greasy spoon in favour of home-cooked fare.

The healthy meals prepared by chef Julie Cooper and her team have been such a success, people have been calling to reserve a place.

A limited number of two-course meals are available from the centre's Royal Cafe on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday lunchtimes, at a cost of 60p. Most of the meals are booked by 10.30am.

The cooking workshops, on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, have also been a huge success, with many men joining the classes to learn how to improve their diet.

Mrs Cooper, a community catering manager for the PCT, said some people had been buying the subsidised meals for their families at night.

"We always use fresh ingredients, with the aim of reaching the five fruit and veg-a-day target and, ultimately, we want people to go away and then cook some of these recipes at home," she said.

"Afterwards. we run free workshops, with a creche, so people can actually see how we cook the meals. It's all about re-educating and motivating people into eating more healthily."

Some of the dishes on offer on the Taste and Takeaway project have been vegetable cobbler, pasta bake and spicy chicken wraps, with fruit pizza a favourite dessert.

Pat Emerson, Healthy Living Centre co-ordinator, said if the scheme continued to be successful, she hoped funding could be found to extend it.

* The Healthy Living Centre, in Port Clarence Road, is holding an open day tomorrow for people to sample the meals on offer, between 11am and 3pm.

For more information about the workshops, or to reserve a meal, call the centre on (01642) 732365.

The PCT's Director of Public Health, Dr Toks Sangowawa, said: "The project is designed to encourage simple changes in eating habits."