Harbour Lights in Falmouth has been named as one of the UK’s top ten fish and chip restaurants in the 2017 National Fish & Chip Awards.

The Falmouth chippie will now ‘batter’ it out against the nine other contenders as they vie for the Independent Fish and Chip Restaurant of the Year Award and aim to claim the title of best fish and chip restaurant in the UK.

To get to this stage and secure a place in the coveted shortlist, Harbour Lights has faced appraisal by industry experts across a wide variety of judging criteria including fish sourcing policies, restaurant facilities and appearance, staff training and development practices, menu diversification, and marketing and promotional activity. They also received mystery shopping assessments to ascertain customer service levels and the quality of the fish and chips on offer.

Over the coming weeks, the restaurants will be subjected to further mystery shopping assessments and in-depth judging audits. This next stage of the competition will whittle down the top ten to establish the top five UK fish and chip restaurants that will compete for the top accolade to eventually be presented at the awards ceremony, held in London on January 26.

The National Fish & Chip Awards are recognised as one of the most prominent and respected seafood industry events in the UK. They celebrate the Great British tradition of fish and chips, showcasing the best talent, quality and choice offered by fish and chip businesses through 13 different award categories.