gmb45
27th July, 2009, 03:48 AM
A FAMILY of fatties is so obese a council is to fork out ?114,000 on minders in a last-ditch bid to stop them over-eating.
Dundee City Council put the overweight family-of-eight out to tender after repeated attempts to get them to exercise failed.
Now the city's Families Project - which uses tough tactics to turn troublemakers into better citizens - will tackle their out-of-control guzzling.
They will move the family - who cannot been named for legal reasons - into temporary homes, where three full-time staff will monitor their meals and force them to get fit.
The 23st mum and 18st dad have been told that if they blow this last chance their six obese kids will go into care.
The father, 53, who has a heart problem, and the mum, 40, of Dundee, last year pleaded with the council for help to care for their children.
But social workers were left shocked at the size of them.
The youngest, a 21-month old boy, was a massive 1st 12lbs, while others included a 16st 12-year-old boy and a 4st girl of three.
The council had previously ordered the parents to take the 12-year-old and three-year-old to football and dancing lessons. But the get-fit bid failed.
A council source said: "The family was a massive drain on resources. A decision was taken to put them out to tender to contain the spending necessary to get them sorted out."
The Dundee Families Project's deputy manager John Wallace said: "It's not easy working with us.
"We don't give up easily, as the consequences for the children, should we withdraw, will not be positive."
But Susie Squire of the Taxpayers' Alliance said: "This case shows excessive and incredibly expensive nannying.
"When there's not someone around stopping them from going to the fridge they'll just tuck in again."
Talks to finalise the massive weight-loss operation are scheduled for this week.
A council spokesman refused to comment.
Dundee City Council put the overweight family-of-eight out to tender after repeated attempts to get them to exercise failed.
Now the city's Families Project - which uses tough tactics to turn troublemakers into better citizens - will tackle their out-of-control guzzling.
They will move the family - who cannot been named for legal reasons - into temporary homes, where three full-time staff will monitor their meals and force them to get fit.
The 23st mum and 18st dad have been told that if they blow this last chance their six obese kids will go into care.
The father, 53, who has a heart problem, and the mum, 40, of Dundee, last year pleaded with the council for help to care for their children.
But social workers were left shocked at the size of them.
The youngest, a 21-month old boy, was a massive 1st 12lbs, while others included a 16st 12-year-old boy and a 4st girl of three.
The council had previously ordered the parents to take the 12-year-old and three-year-old to football and dancing lessons. But the get-fit bid failed.
A council source said: "The family was a massive drain on resources. A decision was taken to put them out to tender to contain the spending necessary to get them sorted out."
The Dundee Families Project's deputy manager John Wallace said: "It's not easy working with us.
"We don't give up easily, as the consequences for the children, should we withdraw, will not be positive."
But Susie Squire of the Taxpayers' Alliance said: "This case shows excessive and incredibly expensive nannying.
"When there's not someone around stopping them from going to the fridge they'll just tuck in again."
Talks to finalise the massive weight-loss operation are scheduled for this week.
A council spokesman refused to comment.