CHIP shop owner Rob Wicks and his staff are frying high after being named as the top takeaway in Suffolk and one of the best 100 in Britain.And when it comes to accolades, Rob has it all wrapped up after another successful a-salt and batter-y on the industry's top awards has landed him his fourth Seafish honour in a row.

CHIP shop owner Rob Wicks and his staff are frying high after being named as the top takeaway in Suffolk and one of the best 100 in Britain.

And when it comes to accolades, Rob has it all wrapped up after another successful a-salt and batter-y on the industry's top awards has landed him his fourth Seafish honour in a row.

Rob, who runs the Bounty Takeaway in High Road West, Felixstowe, is thrilled with the latest awards for his popular premises.

"We are extremely pleased. For the Seafish award you have to open up your business to quite minute inspection so you have got be pretty brave!" he said.

"The inspectors are here two to three hours and they look at everything.

"It is excellent news that we are in the book as well – we are really putting Felixstowe on the map and hope it will be a boost to the town."

The Bounty is the only chip shop in Suffolk to win the Seafish Friers Quality Award this year and it is the fourth successive year it has received the award.

The Seafish Industry Authority – set up by government to support and develop the UK fish industry – gives the award, started in 1996 to raise standards, for first-class fish and chips cooked in a top-quality environment.

Inspectors visit to assess the shop's image, design and condition, the selection and quality of its fish, hygiene and storage practices, staff training, equipment, frying and sales skills, and the quality of the product.

The award is valid for a year and all premises have to be inspected afresh every year. Only 300 of the 8,500 chips shops nationwide have received the award.

In addition, the Bounty has made it into a new guide to Britain's 100 best chippies, Tip-top Fish and Chip Shops by travel writer Tony Mudd. The author visited hundreds of premises up and down the country to sample their food and talk to shop customers before making his choices.

And while Rob's shop is the only one in Suffolk to be in the book and win a Seafish award – his brother-in-law Tim Skinner's shop Reg's in Great Clacton is the only one in Essex to win the accolades.

Fish and chips is still Britain's favourite fast food and in the past few years there has been a campaign to prove that they are good for people's health, too, with a high nutritional value and far less calories than Indian or Chinese takeaways.

CHIP FILE

n In the 1850s street traders sold fried fish and cooked potatoes separately in the street and alleys of London.

n The first official fish and chip shop opened in Mossley, Lancs, in 1863.

n Originally dripping was used to fry the fish and chips and newspaper to wrap them.

n Today there are 8,500 fish and chip shops countrywide.

n Pristine white paper is used for wrapping today and polystyrene boxes and trays to keep them hot longer.

n Nearly 20pc of protein eaten outside the home is fish.

n One in three potatoes consumed in Britain is eaten as chips.

n Nearly a quarter of all meals eaten outside the home are fish and chips.