A FAMILY chippy where people come from far-away parts of the world to taste their delights is “over the moon” to be recognised as one of the best.

Peel Park Fisheries, in Bolton Lane, has been in the hands of the same family for 65 years and is one of 10 fish and chip shops across Bradford battling it out for the T&A’s Best Chippy 2024 competition.

We have received 2,237 nominations for the contest through our online voting platform, and are currently in the process of profiling the finalists in print and online.

Paul Hutchinson, 54, who runs the shop with his wife Joanne, 52, said on hearing their chippy had been shortlisted: “It was incredible.

“I’ll be honest, I’d seen the post about doing a survey and thought it would be the regular shops that get quite good in surveys.

“Then we had customers come in saying they’ve voted for us – I thought that’s quite nice, we’ll see how it goes.

“I’m over the moon about it.

“It’s a testament to our customers because they put us there.”

The premises has housed a chippy ever since it was built 90 years ago, with Mrs Hutchinson’s family taking over at the end of the 1950s.

The family owned the building from that point onwards – even when Mrs Hutchinson’s parents retired in 1998 and the business was run by someone else – and Mr Hutchinson took over 11 years ago.

Its ethos is keeping things traditional, including frying in beef dripping, and providing the best quality while keeping prices competitive.

Mr Hutchinson said they use Icelandic fish, the best English potatoes, and genuine Spam.

This week, Peel Park Fisheries also reintroduced its “Special Fish”, which is nearly double the size of a regular portion but still maintains the quality, according to Mr Hutchinson.

The chippy has attracted attention from beyond just Bradford too.

Mr Hutchinson said he had customers come in from Lincolnshire, Scotland, and Lancashire on Tuesday.

They even had a monthly visitor from Canada, who popped in when they were in the country, as well as a regular from Australia who would come in anytime they were back in the UK.

Mr Hutchinson said: “I wouldn’t say we’re internationally renowned, but we get a few people in.”

Speaking about the visitor from Canada, he added: “He kept trying to talk me into opening a shop over there but one is enough for me.”

  • We aim to have profiled all of the finalists during the coming days. To vote for your favourite, pick up a copy of the T&A and fill out the coupon.