After fierce competition two restaurants have battered the opposition and been named Northern Ireland’s best fish and chip shops.

The Fish and Chicken Inn Ballymena and The Galley in Newry go forward to do battle with 18 others to be named the UK’s best chippie, won last year by The Townhead Café in the Scottish borders.

The next stage of judging will whittle that number down to 10. The Fish and Chicken Inn and The Galley will now have checks on their product quality, staff training, innovation, customer service, shop décor and cleanliness, staff hygiene and food preparation techniques. Shops also face questions regarding their policies on sourcing seafood from sustainable stocks.

Brian Surgeon manager of The Fish and Chicken Inn said: “Getting to this stage of the competition recognises the hard work we’ve put in over the years. We deliver the best fish and chips time after time it’s great for our customers to know that they are getting the best in the area. We’ll be doing all we can to make sure we make it through to the next round.”