After four months of mystery dining, Fry Magazine’s 50 Best Fish & Chip Takeaways 2017 have been announced.

The takeaways made the list after an independent company sent mystery diners to all those shops that entered the competition and assessed a range of front-of-house aspects from staff friendliness, cleanliness of the takeaway to product knowledge. Points were also awarded for the quality of the food with everything being critiqued from the crispness of the batter, to the texture of chips, to the flakiness of the fish.

With takeaways picking up additional points for details such as clean and tidy uniforms, the availability of a specials board, and cooking to order, the benchmark was set extremely high with the top 50 scoring 95% or over in their mystery dine.

In alphabetical order, the 50 Best Fish & Chip Takeaways 2017 are:

• Al^s Plaice, Bedford, Bedfordshire
• Angel Lane Chippie, Penrith, Cumbria
• Bishopston Fish Bar, Horfield, Bristol
• Bizzie Lizzie^s, Swadford Street, Skipton, North Yorkshire
• Brockfield Fisheries, Huntington, York
• Catch, Ashford, Kent
• Church Street Fish Bar, Abertillery, Gwent
• Coopers Fish Bar, Coventry, Warwickshire
• Cromars, St.Andrews, Fife
• Crosskeys Fish Bar, Crosskeys, Newport
• Fairfield Plaice, Buxton, Derbyshire
• Fishtastic, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
• Fochabers Fish Bar, Fochabers, Morayshire
• Frydays of Kendal, Kendal, Cumbria
• Harpers, Wetwang, East Yorkshire
• Harry^s Fish ’n’ Chips, Chingford, London
• Henleys of Wivenhoe, Colchester, Essex
• Hirds Family Fisheries, Halifax, West Yorkshire
• Jack Fullers, Billingshurst, West Sussex
• Lakeside Takeaway, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
• Longsands Fish Kitchen, Tynemouth, North Shields
• Middleton in Teesdale Fish and Chip Shop, Middleton in Teesdale, County Durham
• Merchant Chippie, Glasgow
• Minnie Bertha’s, Bexhill-On-Sea, East Sussex
• My Plaice Fish & Chips, Gorleston-on-Sea, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
• Nick The Fish, Poole, Dorset
• Norton Fisheries, Norton, Stourbridge
• Old Time Fisheries, Keighley, West Yorkshire
• Oysters Fish and Chip Lightwater, Lightwater, Surrey
• Peel Park Fisheries, Bradford
• Penaluna’s Famous Fish & Chips, Hirwaun, Rhondda Cynon Taf
• Pete’s Pan, Billesley, Birmingham
• Plattens Fish and Chips, Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk
• Pride of Bridlington, Bridlington, East Yorkshire
• Quays Fish & Chip Shop, Lancaster, Lancashire
• Robinsons Fish & Chips, Poole, Dorset
• Scott^s Plaice, Gosport, Portsmouth
• Shaws Fish & Chips, Barnsley, South Yorkshire
• Shillingfords, Neath, Port Talbot
• Smiths Chippy, South Shields, Tyne & Wear
• Taylor’s Fish & Chips, PenygraigTonypandy, Mid Glamorgan
• The Bay Fish & Chips, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire
• The Blue Fin, Brighouse, York
• The Bridge Sauchie, Sauchie, Clackmannan
• The Carron Fish Bar, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire
• The Codfather, Botley Road, Southampton
• The Cod’s Scallops, Wollaton, Nottingham
• The Crispy Cod, Tonyrefail, Glamorgan
• The Elite Fish & Chip Company, Sleaford, Lincolnshire
• The Jolly Fryer, Rugeley, Staffordshire
• The Plaice To Be, Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire
• The Posh Fish & Chip Co, Llandaff, Cardiff
• The Scrap Box, Dunnington, York
• The Silver Hake, Birmingham
• Towngate Fisheries, Idle, Bradford
• Utley Fisheries, Utley, West Yorkshire
• Winyates Chippy, Redditch, Worcestershire
• Wellies Fish & Chips, Grantham, Lincolnshire

This is the fifth year Fry Magazine has run the competition and Fairfield Place in Buxton, Derbyshire, is the only shop to have retained its place on the list every year since the competition began.

With a number of shops tying on the 95% cut-off point, over 50 takeaways made the prestigious list, of which more than half were new entrants to the list for 2017.

While all successful chippies receive a certificate to display in their shop and an A2 window poster detailing their achievement, every entrant is sent a copy of their mystery dining sheet, providing valuable feedback and a chance for operators to improve their business.

Reece Head, competition organiser, comments: "We would like to congratulate all those shops that made our Top 50 Fish & Chip Takeaways 2017. The pass mark was once again set very high at 95% and to achieve that takes a lot of dedication and hard work from everyone involved, from the owner to the manager, to the frier and the counter staff. It really is a team effort.

"Running a fish and chip shop gets harder every year with so much going on behind the scenes, so to serve up excellent quality food with a matching level of service and atmosphere day-in day-out deserves to be recognised.

"All the shops that made the 50 Best have proved they go the extra mile to give their customers the best possible experience, whether that’s detailing the boat that catches the day’s fish, running weekly specials, or simply taking time out to ask customers how their day has been. This is what puts these chippies ahead and keeps customers coming back time and time again.”

This year’s 50 Best Fish & Chip Takeaways is sponsored by Friars Pride, Frymax, Goldensheaf, Henry Colbeck, KFE, Middleton Foods, Nortech Superior, VA Whitley and Brakes Fast Food.

Shops are now being encouraged to take to Twitter (#50Best) and Facebook to spread the news as well as contact their local media and revel in the publicity that their win brings!

All mystery visits were carried out by Shopper Anonymous.