A FISH and chip shop has been taken over by Adventure Island boss Philip Miller, who liked it so much he bought the business.

Rose and Trevor Neville owned the Pavilion chippy, next to the theme park, and when they wanted to retire, Mr Miller made an offer.

The shop has been refurbished and reopened as the Fish and Chip Emporium.

Mr Miller said: “I’ve been friends with the former owners for 30 years – in fact, they used to babysit my nephew, Marc Miller.

“When I heard they wanted to retire, I really wanted to help them out.

“I acquired the business and also asked their son, Perry, to become my assistant catering manager. Then his mum and dad told me they wanted to keep busy, so now Trevor does all our window cleaning at Adventure Island, Sea-Life Adventure Aquarium and the Three Shells.

“Rose works part-time at Sea-Life.”

The makeover included adding a 100-seater deck overlooking Adventure Island and a “wet room” where potatoes are peeled and cut in the traditional way, before being deep fried.

Adventure Island managing director, Marc Miller, said: “Eating fish and chips on Southend seafront is part and parcel of the great British tradition and we wanted to recapture how our national dish should and used to taste, before people started cutting corners and skimping on the quality.

“We’ve done all sorts of research into what type of potatoes make the best chips and what is the optimum time to cook them for, to make absolutely sure we get things perfect.

“I’m proud to say I think we’ve done it.

“I don’t think you’ll find a finer chip in the country.”