LONDON mayor Sadiq Khan said on Thursday that he would not be bending on a junk food advertising ban on the city’s transport network.

Conservative assembly member Andrew Boff questioned whether the rules were sensible during the cost of living crisis and a time when people needed as many options as possible.

Mr Boff said: “You’re saying that the junk food ban in London takes priority over measures to make sure that families can afford food, at a time when families are and will be struggling to make ends meet.”

He suggested space could be given over to healthy eating adverts, adding that he believed in “more carrot and less stick”.

Mr Boff said: “Public information works. Junk food bans don’t work.”

During their exchange, the mayor told Mr Boff that “he looked great after losing weight”, a comment which Mr Boff said he was baffled by.

The mayor said the ban would stay in place and that “the immediate priority is sorting out the mess of the economy”.

He said research had shown that banning the advertising of high-fat, sugary, and salty foods had led to “remarkable benefits in London”

“Families who hitherto were having issues are seeing big benefits,” he added.

The advertising ban was first ordered by the mayor in 2018 amid rising child obesity.