A Benfleet dad has set up a gluten-free fish and chip business from his own home after struggling to find takeaways for his wife.

Rob Clarke, from Benfleet, has launched "Bobby's", a fish and chip takeaway business, that is completely gluten-free.

The business is currently operating out of a satellite kitchen, delivering meals across Benfleet, Hadleigh, and Leigh.

Rob launched the business last month, after always struggling to find a takeaway for his wife Louise, who has Coeliac Disease.

The dad-of-two instead began to recreate their favourite takeaways at home using gluten-free ingredients.

He said: “In February this year I became ill and had to be on long term sick leave from my permanent day job.

“I have always had a full and busy life, and my illness meant I had to scale back my big passion in life which is music.

“To prop up my mental health, I turned to my second passion which is cooking.

“As Louise has Coeliac disease, we have always found that ordering a takeaway that we can all enjoy is practically impossible.

“Because of this, I had started to recreate our favourite take-aways at home using gluten free ingredients that were tasty and safe for all of us.

“Very quickly, fish and chips took priority as it has always been a favourite.

“I developed a gluten free and dairy free recipe that was so good, we cooked it for friends and friends being friends, they said ‘this is so good, you could sell this’, so we thought we would give it a try.”

The business is now fully registered, with a five-star food hygiene rating.

Rob now hopes to soon move his business into a food van and become even more accessible across south Essex.

He added: “Our USP is that we don't use any gluten flour in any recipes, even for home cooking, as it is so air-borne and must be impossible to avoid cross contamination in premises that use both.

“My long-term dream is to have a food van. This will enable me to make our food even more accessible to our local community and to showcase our food at local events, where eating can be so difficult for people with allergies.

“It has always been my dream to have my own business and what better way to do that than by doing something you love every day, that provides for so many lovely local people who have gone without fish and chips for so long.”