‘Quite a few have given up’: fish and chip shops battered by rising costs

With fish and cooking oil prices soaring and consumers spending less, industry is facing a big challenge

If I were a panicker, I'd be very scared." Andrew Crook is putting on a brave face but he's worried. The owner of Skippers of Euxton, a fish and chip shop near Chorley in Lancashire, has already had to put his prices up four times this year, and he fears yet another increase is just around the corner as he battles a tidal wave of rising costs and pressures.

The UK's fish and chip industry is facing its biggest challenge in its 160-year history, according to Crook, who speaks for the nation's beloved chippies as president of the National Federation of Fish Friers (NFFF).