IMPROVEMENTS to school dinners in County Durham are being proposed in the wake of stinging criticism of their content by TV chef Jamie Oliver.

The chef, whose efforts to ween children off processed fast food and eat more healthily featured in programmes earlier this year, will receive a copy of the report, compiled by a council working group.

The group, made up of councillors, parent governors and Investing in Children representatives, spent six months investigating the issue of school dinners, which, with a General Election looming, has become a political football amid concerns that children's high-fat diet is making them unhealthy.

Meals at most state schools in the county are provided by the national contractor Scolarest, whose £7m contract expires in August. The council is considering whether to extend it.

The firm has already responded to criticism by the chef, who was featured in his programme at Eden Community Primary School in Peterlee, by announcing it will no longer serve Turkey Twizzlers, a shaped fast food, after the Easter break.

The working group has made recommendations to the council's cabinet although school governors are now responsible for dinners. These include ensuring that the new meals contract reflects nutritional 'best practice' and aims to reduce fat, salt and sugar consumption while promoting fruit and vegetables.

"Shaped products, such as Turkey Twizzlers and Nuggets, should not be served."

The group says oily fish should be included in menus along with wholemeal bread and a choice of two fruit and two vegetables. It also wants more pupils to take school dinners, to choose healthier meals and encourage more schools to sign up for the national Healthy Schools Standard.

School governors should have a greater role over pupils' health and there should be 'more focused' monitoring of school meals standards.

The group also calls for more Government funding to help schools to improve nutrition, citing the fact that the council has already pledged an extra £300,000 to improve meal quality from September.

Coun John Dormer, chairman of the working group, said a copy of the report would be sent to Jamie Oliver and that they welcomed the attention his programmes had brought to the issue.