... and where to find a plaice with a top rating for cleanliness

MOST of us love a good portion of fish and chips and Derby has its fair share of great chippies.

Whether you have yours with curry sauce, gravy, mushy peas, cheese, mayonnaise, ketchup, or something else, we can all agree that it is British comfort food at its finest.

And as the cold autumn and winter nights get closer, and nights out become nights in, some of us may fancy a quick takeaway as a weekend treat, a convenient tea or a way to satisfy regular habit.

But as well as great taste, price and service, food hygiene is something we should all be wary of to ensure our cod and chips has come from a clean plaice (sorry...).

Fortunately, Derby boasts a high number of five-star fish and chip shops across the city, as rated by the Food Standards Agency.

They are:

■■3 Chefs Fish Bar, Roosevelt Avenue, Chaddesden

■■Abbey Fish Bar,King Alfred Street

■■Allestree Fish Bar, Blenheim Parade, Allestree

■■Ascot Fish Bar, Osmanton Road,

Allenton

■■Beaufort Fish Bar, Nottingham Road

■■Chester Green Fish Bar, City Road

■■Elton Road Fish & Chips, Elton Road

■■Fish and Chips @ Pizza Village, Mercaston Road

■■George’s Tradition, Swarkestone Road, Chellaston

■■George’s Tradition, Park Farm, Allestree

■■Kedleston Fish Bar, Kedleston Road

■■Luca’s Plaice, Edmund Road, Spondon

■■Markeaton Fish Bar, Ashbourne Road

■■Oakwood Fish Bar, Danebridge Crescent

■■R’n’B Fish Bar, Brackens

Lane ■■Saddlers Fish and Chips, Normanton Road

■■Shelton Lock Fish Bar, Chellaston Road

■■Sitwell Fish Bar, Sitwell Street, Spondon

■■Sussex Circus Fish Bar, Sussex Circus

■■Tasty Plaice, Derbion

Some of the outlets have not been inspected since 2018, however, with food hygiene visits suspended during the early part of the pandemic.

While we have tried to find all the five-star rated fish and chip shops in Derby, some may be missing from this list due to there being no filters available for chippies on the Food Standards Agency’s ratings finder tool.

Any restaurant which scores three stars is considered to be generally compliant with the three inspection categories. Inspections are carried out by the local authority according to standards set by the FSA.

Officers assess three categories; hygienic food handling, which covers the preparation, cooking and storage of food; cleanliness and condition of facilities, such as hand washing facilities and building layout; and management of food safety, which includes systems and checks in place to ensure food is safe to eat, and staff knowledge of food safety.

We regularly publish updates on food hygiene.

Restaurants which fail to get up to scratch with these measures can be given zero or one-star ratings, and can even be temporarily closed should they pose a risk to food safety.