THEY are the traditional home of crisps, chocolate bars and fizzy pop.

But a Blackburn school is pioneering a tuck shop with a difference to tackle fears over child obesity.

The initiative is to combat East Lancashire's high levels of heart disease, diabetes and other diet-related illnesses.

Youngsters attending St Michael with St John Primary School, Swallow Drive, are setting a trend by snapping up two or three pieces of fruit for 20p, as well as a choice of vegetables.

Offering healthy food in schools has been highlighted after recent figures suggested Britain's children are growing fatter.

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has also weighed into the debate with his hit Channel 4 show Jamie's School Dinners, which has prompted moves across the UK to push healthier food in schools.

Pendle MP Gordon Prentice even praised the chef's work in a motion in the Commons -- a move backed by fellow Labour member and Hyndburn MP Greg Pope.

Joanne Gibson, a food worker for the East Lancashire Five-a-Day Project, helps the area's three Primary Care Trusts boost fruit and veg intake. She visited classrooms at the Blackburn school to encourage pupils to choose fruit over fat.

The Snack Shack, part funded with £400 from the project, will be run by Year 5 and 6 pupils and was launched yesterday, following a suggestion at a school council meeting.

Mrs Gibson said: "This is the best selection of fruit I have seen in any of our new tuck shops in schools. We hope we can encourage children to want fruit more often as part of a healthier lifestyle."

Research shows nearly as many children are obese as adults after a three-fold increase since the 1980s, with 16 per cent of two to fifteen-year-olds obese compared to 22 per cent of adults.

One pupil who was buying fruit in the tuck shop yesterday, Lubna Patel, seven, said: "I don't have fruit at home. I quite like apples, though. I had one today, it's my favourite."

Fellow student Alia Qureshi, eight, added: "I like fruit a little bit but I will probably eat it more now it is here every day. I really like the sultanas."