A RESTAURANT owner finds himself a big fish as his chippie wins a prestigious award.

George’s Fish and Souvlaki Bar in George lane, South Woodford, has joined the fish frying elite from across the UK by scooping a Seafish Fryers Quality Award.

The scheme was set up in 1996 as a way of raising the standards of the nation’s favourite take-away and awarding shops with high levels of quality and hygiene.

To qualify, each shop must go through a vigorous, unannounced Inspection by an official Seafish judge, and owner George Nicola was no exception.

He said: “The judge was here for eight hours straight and we received a very rigorous inspection.

“I’ve been here a year and a half now and I think we deserve the award because I really made changes to the fish and chip shop that was here before, mainly changing the quality of the fish and the oils.

“We also did a full refurbishment and only reopened in August last year.

“I feel fantastic as all the hard work has paid off and it’s a real morale boost for our staff and our customers.”

Mr Nicola has now entered himself for the Fish and Chips of the Year Award and will be maintaining his high standards in anticipation of next year’s surprise inspection.