A ONCE condemned chippy in Guisborough has won a national award for excellence.

Alan Jackson, an ex-ICI employee, would be the first to admit he was like a fish out of water when he sank his redundancy pay into a fish and chip shop. Today he says of the food he sells at the Hutton Lane Fish and Chip Shop: "I believe it's as good as you can get.''

The Seafish Authority agrees with the 43-year-old and proved it by giving Alan and his wife, Rita, an award for excellence. The couple were presented with their award last week by Ashok Kumar, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland.

Mrs Jackson had worked in fish and chip shops for a number of years and always wanted a place of her own when the couple spotted the chippy for sale on Hutton Lane, Guisborough.

"The shop was rundown, the range condemned and every window was falling out. It was grotty," said Mr Jackson.

"It's been a long process but we got established about two years ago. We had to totally gut the place and buy new equipment.''

Mr Jackson says traditional chippies have to compete with burger chains, pizza parlours and kebab bars.

"Faced with this competition the Seafish Authority want to raise standards in the industry,'' he said. "When customers go into a fish and chip shop they want it to have nice lighting and safety flooring, not be a greasy hole.''

Mr Jackson added that his Icelandic cod and chips are not pre-cooked. "You can't order fish and chips four times and get them straight away. We clean, trim and chip our own potatoes and use all natural products,'' he said.