A HEREFORDSHIRE fish and chip shop owner has spoken on the difficulties the shop has faced since opening thanks to the cost-of-living crisis.

Zac Zachariou, who recently opened the Fish House fish and chip shop in Moreton-on-Lugg alongside his fiancée Leftie Charalambous, said that the unprecedented rise in prices had made it a struggle getting the fledgling business off the ground.

He said: “We’re getting hit from every angle really. The gas and electric prices are ridiculous enough, but everything on top of that is more expensive than it was even a couple of months ago.”

"From the fish and the oil to the potatoes for the chips, even the trays and boxes to house them in have risen an unbelievable amount."

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This comes after a stark warning from the National Federation of Fish Friers that up to a third of chippies could be forced to close if action isn't taken to help them through the crisis.

Russia was responsible for 45 per cent of global whitefish supply and this has been targeted with a 35 per cent tariff in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

This has combined with a cooking oil shortage. Ukraine produced 90 per cent of our sunflower oil, and the knock-on impact has driven up other oils.

Mr Zachariou said that the shop was lucky that it has had received such a great response from the customers.

He said: "It’s been a difficult environment to launch a new business but luckily, we’ve managed to hit the ground running and been busy enough to cope with the increases.

"We have fought hard to keep prices the same to make sure we don’t have to pass on the increases to the customers who have been fantastic to us since we’ve been here."