Traditional pie and mash shop owners are breathing a sigh of relief after an EU-wide ban on eel fishing was defeated.

Tony Lane, of Tony’s Pie and Mash in Waltham Abbey, where David Beckham is regularly seen eating, said the ban on fishing for the key ingredient in jellied and stewed eels proposed by Swedish MEP Isabella Lövin would have been disastrous.

He added: “It’s a really good thing that it’s been defeated, because a lot of customers rely on them.

“Older customers especially rely on stewed eels because they’re nice and soft and they might have problems with their teeth.

“Jellied eels are a good source of protein and they complement the pie and mash.

“It’s not like there’s a substitute, like coley, which can be used to replace cod.”

He said eel, which he buys from Norway and Ireland, was fished by experts and was already expensive.

“We don’t make a lot of profit on it,” he added. “We sell it because our customers rely on it.”

After the outright ban was put forward at the fisheries committee in Brussels yesterday, British MEPs opposed it and the plan was voted out.

London MEP Marina Yannakoudakis said: “Londoners have enjoyed jellied eel with their pie and mash for more than a hundred years.

“I am glad that the EU has, for once, used its loaf.”

The European committee now plans to monitor stocks of eel and find alternative solutions to a ban.