THREE fish and chip shops in Cumbria have been announced as finalists in a national competition.

Shap Chippy in Shap, Frydays in Kendal and the Angel Lane Chippie in Penrith are in a list of the UK’s Top 60 fish and chip shops in the UK.

They are competing in the UK’s Best Fish and Chip Shop 2020 in the Seafish National Awards.

Out of the six finalists for the north west, three are from Cumbria.

Matt Phillips, from Shap Chippy, said: “We are so pleased to have made the top 60 in our first year of entering the awards. It really is a testament to the team and all our hard work to have made it into the top 60.”

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Ashley Phillips, also from Shap, continued: “The next stage is a full audit which we are really looking forward to. We have refurbished the shop and installed all new equipment to make sure we deliver a consistent high quality locally-sourced product and sustainable MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) certified fish.”

Frydays in Kendal has been a finalist for the last few years. This year the takeaway made it into the top 20 list.

A spokeswoman said: “We are very excited to be nominated again. We’d like to thank our fantastically awesome team and our super duper customers.”

Daniel Harding, who runs the Angel Lane Chippie with his dad David, said: “We are delighted to be finalists. We like entering competitions to see how we do.

“The secret to our success, I think, is that we don’t compromise on the quality of our fish or potatoes.

“You have to have care and compassion in what you are doing to produce a quality product.”

The UK Top 60 shops will now go forward to the next round of judging in a bid to make the UK Top 20 shortlist stage.

Marcus Coleman, chief executive officer at Seafish, said: “Shops have been entering the competition since May and these Top 60 takeaways have demonstrated real commitment to quality in all areas and worked tirelessly to earn their place on this list. I would recommend a visit to them all.”

The winner will be announced on January 23, 2020.