The Sunday Mirror reported that the government will call for a blanket ban on 'junk food' advertising on children's TV later this month.

The national paper claimed to have been leaked extracts of a paper being released by the Commons health Select Committee on May 27. In them, there will apparently be the most implicit and powerful call yet from MPs for a crackdown on ads for crisps, chocolate and fizzy drinks during the peak children's viewing times.

The report is likely to mark the beginning of a battle between factions in the government that either support the ban or are wary of standing up to the corporate giants that pay for the advertisements. The most high profile differences could be between health secretary John Reid, who falls into the former category, and culture secretary Tessa Jowell, who adpots the latter stance.

The report will make up to 100 recommendations to help improve the public's health and be critical of the government for its inaction to this point on critical issues such as obesity levels.

Illustrating the depth of the undertaking, last year, said the newspaper, McDonalds spent £32.5 million on TV advertising, Coca Cola £13m and crisp manufacturer Pringles a further £7m.