FOR Eric Davies, there was only one solution to the problem of finding good fish for dinner. Become a fishmonger!

Eric The Fish, as he is known, is the cheerful six-footer in the blue striped apron who has been filleting and serving fresh fish in the traditional way in New Road, Kidderminster, for 12 years.

He has always loved fish. He used to go sea-angling as a boy, though it was a long trip from his home in Cleobury Mortimer to the Welsh coast. And fish has always been his "favourite dish".

Eric, 47, and his partner Dil from Neen Sollars have never been happier since setting up the business with the help of Eric's mother Marian.

For Eric it was a natural progression from regular visits to the fish markets in Birmingham, which he undertook to buy fish for himself and his friends.

His childhood gave him wide knowledge of fish varieties and the skills needed to prepare them for cooking.

He is at the Birmingham wholesale fish market looking for the best he can buy and good bargains at 2.45am four days a week.

By 6 am he is in the shop with Dil ready to take orders.

Most of his customers are "regulars" who come from a wide area to the only real fishmonger for miles.

They rely on him to tell them what is a good buy for the day.

The life would not suit everybody, he admits.

Getting up at 1.30am means going to bed at "sevenish". But he does have three days off a week.

He returns home at 5pm, sometimes cooks the meal - often fish - himself at 6pm before turning in for an early night.

In summer he plays cricket for the village and he holds a Shrewsbury Town Football Club season ticket.

"It's a funny life but you could not do this job unless you enjoy it.

"I like being my own boss and getting to know lots of people."

Eric is worried however about the future. It is not so much the fear of losing customers to the supermarkets but more about dwindling supplies of fish.

"Trade is very good," he said, "I can sell vast quantities when I have the fish but the variety of species is less easy to find. Stocks are at a low ebb and with the new fishing quotas there are hard times ahead."

But Eric will keep going if he can. A university graduate in the history of politics he once had "a posh job" in the Civil Service but hated it.

Other jobs have ranged from chain sawing and working in a senior post in a Stourport home for the mentally handicapped.

But none of these lives suited him. "Every day is a rewarding day for us. I would not change the last 12 years for anything," he said.