'We're selling our village chippy after 45 years behind the fryer'

When Robert Hatt began working at Tony's Fish & Chips 45 years ago, the nation's takeaway was still served wrapped in newspapers.

The shop has traded for a century, and the retiring 65-year-old is hoping a new owner can keep the tradition alive in the Sheffield village of Mosborough.

"The only thing people have said to me is 'don't let them put a kebab machine in'," he says.

Robert offers a basic menu, but customers still queue out of the door. His chips are cooked in beef dripping, there's a secret recipe for the batter and he lays off the sugar in the mushy peas.

"There's a million chip shops using oil and a handful that are traditional," says Robert, who bought the business from his brother-in-law, the eponymous Tony, in 2002.

As a result, locals say Tony's has become an institution in the well-kept village - and they don't want to lose this long-standing heart of the community.

Margarette Lillie visits every Friday for her usual lunch of fish, chips and mushy peas, and the landfall of Storm Eowyn didn't deter her from calling in.

"You can't prepare chips with oil," the 79-year-old states.

"In my opinion, they are not as good."

Margarette, who "always" brings her own bag to carry her food home in, says she hopes the shop can continue, while Wayne Mayfield believes it is the "best" chippy of its kind in the city.

Paul Gilbert, rushing down the street to get home before his food gets cold, pauses to say: "It's brilliant. I hope somebody takes it on and keeps it as it is."

Despite forced closures due to the coronavirus pandemic and soaring prices in recent years because of the war in Ukraine, about 10,500 fish and chip shops remain open for business in the UK according to the body that represents the industry, the Leeds-based National Federation of Fish Friers.

That figure is about eight times higher than the number of McDonald's restaurants.

"Everyone tells you everything in a chip shop, it's like a hairdressers," says Robert's wife of 27 years and business partner, Helena.

"We have lovely customers, they have been coming in a long time - people from London who come back, people from Australia who have moved out who come back and visit.

"We have old people who come with their plates and their knives and forks and flasks. They bring their plates in and sit in their car and eat."

Robert's tales from thousands of shifts behind the counter include a colourful incident when he ended up covered in ketchup after he found himself in the middle of an argument between a member of his staff and his partner.

"I walked in and thought he was bleeding - the kids were screaming," recalls Helena with a smile.

On another occasion, one unhappy customer, a little worse for wear, smashed a glass panel in the entrance door after the shop had run out of mushy peas.

They returned the next day to apologise.

Habits may change - Robert no longer sells as many pies as he once did and his opening hours have been sliced as "people don't go out like they used to" - but the tradition of a chippy tea from Tony's has been part of life in Mosborough for more than 100 years.

"I don't know what we are going to do when he goes," says another regular customer, Linda Aldis, while she waits in the queue during the lunchtime rush.

A community notice board hangs on the wall behind her as the freshly stocked counter keeps customers warm while they wait.

"I'll leave it in good hands," answers Robert reassuringly.

After selling the business he plans to spend more time with Helena and their grandchildren, but not before handing over his secrets to the next custodian.

"I hope whoever takes it keeps it going the same," says Robert.

"Some changes are good, but others are bad. If I saw a kebab machine in a chippy, I wouldn't go in it."

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