Doctors will refer residents they consider overweight

Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust (PCT) in south west London will subsidise diet and fitness classes for 20 people picked from seven surgeries.

The Sutton Healthy Living Partnership is paying for the initiative with money from the National Lottery's New Opportunities fund.

It will be targeted at people whose weight causes them mobility problems.

Under Sutton and Merton's scheme, thought to be one of the first of its kind, residents of the St Helier, Hackbridge and Wrythe wards will be able to attend Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness clubs.

The classes give the same good advice about healthy eating that we would provide Deborah Norman, Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust

They will have to be considered by their doctor to be overweight, with a Body Mass Index of more than 30.

The initiative will replace the "Weight Matters" classes the trust set up last autumn, which gave advice and support on exercise and diet, along with an optional 30 minutes of physical activity.

"By teaming up with the Rosemary Conley clubs we can offer a wider range of classes and hopefully reach more people," the trust's health improvement manager, Deborah Norman, explained.

"The classes give the same good advice about healthy eating that we would provide at the PCT."

Sarah Wheatley, the trust's physical activity adviser, said: "One in five adults in England are obese and most adults are overweight.

"The classes aim to tackle the fundamental cause - excessive consumption of high fat foods and a lack of physical activity by offering advice on lifestyle change and providing an opportunity to exercise with similar people."