Cafe owner sells 'junk food' to kids through school fence

A CAFE owner has been selling "junk food" to children through the fence of a school after they were banned from leaving the playground at lunchtime.

Pupils at Aberdeen Grammar School must stay within the school grounds at break times to keep them safe and ensure they eat only healthy foods.

Paul Cameron, owner of a nearby shop, was given permission by school bosses to sell healthy snacks to the youngsters through the fence.

However, he has breached the agreement by selling fizzy drinks, pastries, sweets and crisps, sparking anger from some parents.

Aileen Sharples, who has a son at the school and is vice-chair of the PTA, said: "If parents knew about this I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be happy.

"My personal opinion is that it's not acceptable at all."

In 2007, new legislation was passed to ensure that schools served dishes that meet national healthy eating guidelines.

Many schools also decided to ban pupils from leaving the playground so they could keep an eye on what they were eating. Aberdeen Grammar School was one of them.

But pupils fed up with being stuck in the playground clambered over the fence to head to Mr Cameron's shop, Thyme to Eat.

To try to stop the children leaving the school grounds, officials allowed Mr Cameron to sell items to the children through the fence.

It was agreed that he would only sell sandwiches and fruit, but he went against that by selling items including fizzy drinks.

Local councillor Jim Hunter said: "I can't believe the school has allowed this to happen.

"I am dead against junk food being sold to children like this. We are trying to bring children up as healthy as possible. The selling of junk food through the school fence shouldn't be allowed."

Mr Cameron said he'd not done anything wrong, although he admitted he doesn't have a licence for street trading.

He said: "I was trying to help them out. I was stopping them from jumping over the fence and potentially getting knocked over on a busy road.

"What I was selling can be bought at any Asda or Tesco. They would order stuff from me and I would provide it. But it wasn't just a basket of unhealthiness. I tried to give healthy options as well."

Mr Cameron has run his sandwich shop for almost four years. He said that when he first took it over he got rid of all sweets and fizzy drinks.But when his takings dropped he decided to re-introduce them.

He's now decided to stop selling snacks through the school fence.

He said: "It's a lost income for me, but that's just something I'm going to have to take on the chin."

Yesterday, after the fence service was stopped, some schoolchildren began breaking the rules by climbing over the fence and heading into the shop.

Aberdeen City Council said the matter will be investigated.

A council spokesman revealed: "This was agreed on the understanding that only sandwiches and fruit be sold.

"The headteacher will be contacting the shop to discuss this and to ensure that only the agreed items are on sale.

"The sale of items other than those agreed is unacceptable, and if this is repeated then the trader will no longer be welcome."