Sims Chippy in Swindon has battered off stiff local competition to become best chippy in the area in the national Fish & Chip Shop of the Year competition 2007, organised by industry body Seafish.

Owner Darren Sim will now go head to head with David Hanbury of Hanbury's in Babbacombe to be crowned regional champion for the south west. The winner of the regional stage will then compete against nine other hopefuls for the title of UK champion.

Darren said, "We are really excited to have got to this stage. It is a great reward for staff to be recognised for all the hard work they put in throughout the year and is a good way of letting the local customers know they are eating the best fish and chips around."

Sims Chippy will now be judged on a strict criteria of product quality, staff training, innovation, customer service, shop dècor and cleanliness, staff hygiene, food preparation techniques, and for the first time in the competition, their commitment to sustainable practices to ensure a healthy and viable future for the industry.

Phil McMullen, head of environment at Seafish, said: "Today's consumers are more conscious of what fish they eat and where it comes from. Fish and chips shops are responding by stocking a wider variety of fish from sustainable sources and the Fish & Chip Shop of the Year competition recognises this, as well as the shop's excellent high standards."

Darren celebrated their success during Seafood Week which ran from 5 - 12 October. Also organised by Seafish, Seafood Week unites the whole industry behind the 2 a week' message, highlighting the huge variety of seafood available in the UK and showing how easy it is to eat the recommended two portions from sustainable sources.

The Fish & Chip Shop of the Year competition is now in its 20th year and fish and chips is still the UK's favourite takeaway with more than 260 million meals eaten every year.

Regional finalists will be announced in early November and the national winner will be presented with the overall winner's crown by Ainsley Harriott at a ceremony on January 23 at the Royal Garden Hotel in London's Kensington.