Excessive levels of fat and salt have been found in two of the most popular Indian and Chinese takeaway meals.

A survey by the Local Government Group examined 409 samples of chicken tikka masala and pilau rice and sweet and sour chicken and fried rice.

It discovered that an average portion of tikka masala contained 116% of the Guideline daily amount (GDA) of fat for an adult man.

Both meals were found to contain excessive salt; the chicken tikka providing 92% and the sweet and sour chicken and fried rice some 119% of the GDA for an adult.

The report also said it was "disturbing" to find that 20% of meals that claimed to be free of nuts did in fact contain the potentially life threatening ingredient.

"Clearly the request to ensure that the meal does not contain nut or peanuts in particular, lulls the consumer into a false sense of security in this sector." the report said.

It adds: "Local Authorities should ensure further efforts to work with these ethnic kitchens to reduce the occurrence of providing such false information."

Five out of twenty five of the chicken tikka masala dishes were also found to contain higher than the permitted levels of colourings.

And on two occasions turkey DNA was found in sweet and sour chicken meals.