BEING innovators when it comes to running a fish and chip shop may seem a bit unlikely but that is exactly what Lou Marcou and his team are.

Customers of the Newtown Fish Bar in Kidderminster have been going without for the past seven weeks whilst the business has undergone a major refit but now the waiting is over and it reopens on Monday with a range of special offers.

To celebrate being back in business Lou will be offering two days of specials with a fish and chip meal for just £2.50, pie and chips for £2 and a large sausage and chips for just £1.

New on the menu will be chargrilled burgers and home-made southern fried chicken.

Other specials include a choice or two items including mini-fish, sausage, roe and a fish cake served with chips for £2.40 inclusive.

Lou and his family have been in the fish and chip business for 23 years and have had the shop in Brindley Street for the past 10. Service is provided by a team of six who pride themselves on being on first name terms with most customers.

The first fish and chip shop was opened in the 1860s although there is a dispute about whether this was in the North of England or in London.

In the past 140 years there have been huge changes and Lou and his family can claim to have played their own small part in that transformation.

Perhaps there were a few raised eyebrows when they introduced the first kebabs in Kidderminster nearly 20 years ago but it was a move that has helped to establish them as kebab specialists. On offer are lamb and Mediterranean chicken kebabs as well as a choice as exciting and tasty sauces.

The kebabs are now favourite with customers at the fish bar although traditional fish and chips continues to be popular along with the alternatives including chicken pieces, fish cakes, roe, sausages, peas and pies.

Despite all the changes, fish and chip shops continue to compete with other providers of convenience food because the basic recipe of nourishing, tasty and affordable food has not changed.

The Newtown Fish Bar is one of an estimated 8,100 in the country and it is claimed that there are eight fish and chip shops for every McDonalds restaurant in this country.

It is estimated that fish and chip shops have a collective annual turnover of £650 million. They sell 60,000 tones of fish a year (a quarter of all the white fish sold in the UK) and an incredible 500,000 tones of potatoes - more than 10 per cent of the potatoes eaten each year in Britain.

In fact, fish and chips have been successfully exported and are popular in other parts of Europe and especially in Spain.

Consumption has been down in Kidderminster for the past two months but all that is set to change with the new, improved Newtown Fish Bar.

The waiting is over and it's time to tuck in.