Soaring obesity to hit taxpayers

Date: 7th October 2008

A surge in the level of obese adults in the UK could result in higher taxes for all, a government spokesperson has warned.

The Department of Health has said Britain's weight problem could cost the NHS £6.3 billion by 2015 if something is not done to curb rising levels of obesity.

According to the BBC, local councils up and down the BBC are increasingly splashing out on "fat-friendly" services, such as specially widened crematoria furnaces.

Councillor David Rogers, Local Government Association spokesperson on public health, said: "Obesity is increasingly costing the council taxpayer dear.

"Council equipment and infrastructure is having to be modified to deal with a population that is getting larger and larger."

Councillor Rogers added that it falls to social services to care for the house-bound obese adults, to invest money in encouraging people to be active and to replace school furniture that is too small for larger pupils.

Taxpayers who miss the October 31st self-assessment tax deadline need not worry, as a valid excuse form can be claimed from HM Revenue and Customs.