Fat Taxes 'Could Save Thousands'

More than 3,000 fatal heart attacks and strokes could be prevented in the UK each year if VAT was slapped on a vast range of foods, say Oxford researchers.

A 17.5% rise on fatty, sugary or salty food would cut heart and stroke deaths by 1.7%, the study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health said.

One of the researchers declared the time was right to debate a "fat tax".

But the idea was dismissed in 2004 by former prime minister Tony Blair as too suggestive of a "nanny state".

The researchers from the Department of Public Health at Oxford University are among the first to try to work out how targeted taxes might have an effect on levels of illness.