A CROWD-PLEASING fish and chip shop is overjoyed after being crowned the winners of the Echo’s Takeaway of the Year competition.

Oldhams of Westcliff fought off stiff competition from 42 other eateries on our shortlist to bag the top prize of a professionally printed outdoor vinyl banner.

It marked a triumphant end to what was a testing 2020, with the coronavirus pandemic resulting in numerous businesses going bust and others struggling to make ends meet.

Bradley Oldham, owner of the eatery on West Road, Westcliff, was delighted to see the community show their support by voting for Oldhams of Westcliff as our competition winner.

He said: “All of us at Oldhams of Westcliff are delighted to have won the Echo Takeaway of the Year contest and would like to say a very big thank you to all of our customers that voted for us.

“Since we opened in March 1967, we have been fortunate to have won several national and local awards, notably the Evening Echo’s Golden Chip Award back in 1990.

“But this is extra special as it was voted for by the public.”

The global pandemic and restrictions put in place by the government have resulted in numerous takeaway outlets seeing a drop in the amount of customers.

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But Bradley believes sticking to their roots and only making changes to allow more members of the community to enjoy Oldhams of Westcliff’s food has been vital for his business to thrive in these tough times.

He added: “Our customers have always been very discerning, coming back again and again for our traditional fish and chips as they know we have changed little over the years.

“However, recently we have successfully moved from using groundnut oil to sunflower oil, without compromising our high quality, meaning we have been able to welcome customers with nut allergies.

“Where we can, we try to be as sustainable as possible.

“Much of our fish is landed on boats registered with the Marine Stewardship Council, which champions sustainable fisheries.

“We also promote the use of local businesses, sourcing our potatoes locally and are proud to support Jim’s Joints Butchers, who make our free-range pork sausages.

“Our packaging is also recyclable, so we think of the environment as well.”