New figures have revealed the number of takeaways and restaurants in St Albans, Harpenden, and Redbourn.

The figures, from the University of Cambridge, show there are 74 takeaways in the St Albans district.

St Stephens ward, including the city centre, has the most takeaways, with 32.

St Albans council’s business lead, Cllr Beric Read, said: “There are areas where they have gathered, and there is a demand.

“As we go more online, takeaways may take a step back from the high street.

“If the majority of people are buying online, why do they need the high street?

“Takeaways will start to operate out of industrial estates, and it will be interesting to see what sort of time scale that will work to.”

The second most are in the Harpenden West ward.

Several wards have no takeaways at all - these have not been included in our graph.

All told, there are 115 takeaways in St Albans, 186 restaurants, 66 convenience stores, and 53 cafes.

Head of planning for St Albans council, Tracy Harvey, said: “Our Health and Wellbeing Partnership looked into the issue of takeaways in depth earlier this year.

“Some councils have introduced or are considering policies to limit takeaways in selected areas, however, the partnership concluded the evidence did not justify new policies such as refusing takeaway planning applications near secondary schools.

“Figures from a Public Health England survey recently showed that the number of takeaways in St Albans is well below the national average of 88 per 100,000 people.

“St Albans had 90 takeaways or 62 per 100,000, a rate that is also lower than most of Hertfordshire’s other districts.

“Most takeaways have been in existence for a number of years with only six planning permissions being granted for new takeaways in St Albans in the last ten years.

“Moreover, St Albans also has a lower level of overweight or obese children than the national average.”

For comparison, Welwyn Hatfield has 77 takeaways and 106 restaurants. Stevenage has 85 takeaways.

To see the information for yourself, visit www.feat-tool.org.uk/map