Today we can reveal the winner of our bid to find the best fish and chip shop in Accrington – The Abbey Friar.

After receiving hundreds of nominations from readers in our quest to find the town’s best chippy there is only one ‘plaice’ to eat.

Unknown to the owners we sent a secret taste tester to rate them for their quality of fish and chips, value for money, cleanliness and appearance and customer service.

It was a close race. While some who served a perfect portion lost out on price, others made our exacting judge wait just a little too long.

The Abbey Friar on Abbey Street narrowly beat the Moorend Chip Shop in Oswaldtwistle, while the York Street Chippy came third.

Our undercover judge described the fish in The Abbey Friar as ‘of excellent quality and perfectly cooked’ and the chips as ‘tasty and full of flavour’.

Owner Andreas Djamalis, 42, who has run the chippy for nearly 15 years, said: "I’m just overwhelmed. It’s fantastic, I just can’t believe it.

"It’s about time as everybody has been saying it. I have been in the fish and chip trade all my life and remember peeling my first potatoes at the age of six.

"Our prices might not be the cheapest, but we use the best, fresh fish from Scotland and Ireland."

And the secret to a perfect portion of fish and chips?

Andreas said: "Hard work, a lot of preparation, the best ingredients and all delivered through the best customer service.

"We get people calling us saying that we have the best fish and chips they’ve ever tasted."

Customer Cassey Bolton from Accrington said: "I think it’s well deserved. I’ve been coming here for more than seven years and it’s always been brilliant. It’s my favourite chippy in Accrington."

Coming in second place was the Moorend Chip Shop on Union Street. Our undercover judge said: "The fish was of very good quality and the shop was really clean with good customer service."

In third place was the York Street Chippy on York Street. Our judge said: "It was a tough decision as the quality of food and speed of service was very good."

The Abbey Friar will now be part of a text vote against the chippy champions from our other weekly titles.

The top three most popular will then be invited to a gala dinner at the Manchester Food and Drink Festival, where the Greater Manchester Chippy of the Year will be revealed.

How to vote for the Abbey Friar

The Abbey Friar will go head-to-head against the other winners from our 15 sister titles in a bid to find the best chippy around.

To vote for the chippy text COTY plus a space followed A to 82540.  Voting is underway and will close at noon on Monday, October 4.

The top three will be anounced in next week’s Free Press and the ultimate winner will be crowned during a special gala dinner at the Manchester Food and Drink Festival.

Terms and conditions:

1. Competition runs from midnight September 29 until noon October 4. Entries made after the closing time will not be entered into the competition but may still be charged.

2. To Enter text COTY A to 82540. Each text costs £1 plus one standard network rate message. Network charges vary depending on your network and call plan. SMS entrants will receive an SMS confirmation text message of their entry.

3. Competitions are only open to residents of the UK.

4. Entrants must be at least 18 years of age unless otherwise stated.

5. Please ask permission from the bill payer before voting and please text carefully and sensibly. There will be no refunds for the cost of any misdialled texts made.