Hundreds of pupils are turning their backs on school dinners and opting for packed lunches in the wake of the campaign by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.

The number of school meals eaten in Brighton and Hove has fallen by 300 per day, a drop of five per cent.

Many parents across the 65 primary, special and nursery schools in the city are now preparing packed lunches for their children at home as the 7,500 meals made in school kitchens continues to drop.

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokeswoman said: "Since the Jamie Oliver campaign school dinners are down by about 300 per day, which is five per cent of the usual number across schools."

She said the authority already provided healthier meals than some of those shown in the celebrity chef's series and added: "They took Turkey Twizzlers off the menu a year ago and chips are only served once a week.

"There are always going to be some parents who panic after seeing the television programme and withdraw their child from school dinners without looking at what we are actually serving.

"If anyone wants to visit their school and see what they are feeding their children they can arrange that through the school."

Across the UK, local education authorities are reporting a 20 per cent drop in the number of children eating school dinners.

The decline is blamed on the recent television series featuring Oliver, which highlighted the dominance of processed foods in school cafeterias.

Builder Bob Howitt, 42, is at the heart of a campaign to improve meals at St Andrew's in Hove. He has petitioned council officers and catering contractors about food at the school his five-year-old daughter attends.

Mr Howitt, of Wilbury Grove, Hove, said: "I am not surprised at all to hear people are not eating school dinners because there is no feeling of urgency from the council to chase the government money."

East Sussex County Council officers said there had not been a drop there while West Sussex claims it has seen a small increase in pupils having hot meals.