Pizzas must shrink or lose their toppings under Government plans to cap the calories in thousands of meals sold in restaurants and supermarkets.

Pies, ready meals and sandwiches will also be subject to the new proposed calorie limits, in a desperate bid to tackle Britain’s obesity crisis.

Under the draft proposals, a standard pizza for one should contain no more than 928 calories - far less than many sold by takeaways, restaurants and shops. And the recommendations suggest that a savoury pie should contain no more than 695 calories.

Public Health England (PHE) said “drastic” measures were needed to combat Britain’s obesity crisis.

Their plans will see recommended limits on thousands of regularly consumed foods, including cooking sauces, soups, burgers and processed meats.

It comes as new figures show rates of severe obesity among children have risen by more than a third in just over a decade.

More than one in five pupils are obese by the time they leave primary school - including around 24,000 children who are classed as “severely obese”.

Dr Alison Tedstone, PHE chief nutritionist, said the threat to children’s health had been “decades in the making”.

Earlier this week officials met with retailers, manufacturers, including Dominos’s pizza, Deliveroo, Just Eat, Macdonalds and KFC to discuss proposed “calorie caps” on thousands of popular foods.