Fish and chips fans are 'angry' as for some their weekly treat has been taken away for good because a mobile van which has operated for more than 20 years has been forced to close by the council. Fishers Foods ran a weekly Friday service out of a car park on the top of beauty spot Box Hill which is loved by many South Londoners in particular as it is right on their doorstep just a 20 minute drive out of Coulsdon in Croydon.
The owner claims he has been told the car park is owned by the council and that licensed vehicles for trading can no longer drive up Box Hill Road to reach the summit. The council said it took the action following complaints of "nuisance behaviour" by another trader and argue it acted "in the best interest of the local community", as reported by our sister site Surrey Live.
One customer who claims to have visited Fishers Foods since moving to the area decades ago described the “horrible shock” when they found out after returning from a holiday. They described the Fishers Foods van as “so important for our community” and said they have been left “very angry and sad”.
Another suggested the decision “really doesn’t make any sense” because people in the area who cannot drive will have to go without. They added there is no other similar local takeaway on the hill and said they hope a solution can be found.
Other readers on Facebook wondered what issue had led the council to inform Fishers Foods of the change. One frustrated local said: “It’s not as if it’s just started, it’s been here for years serving the local community.”
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On SurreyLive's Facebook page, Kerry Anne recalled “people used to queue for that place”. Kerry Friend reacted: “Everyone’s going to miss it so much.” Another said they had written to their councillor to oppose the decision.
Neil Ansell, the owner of Fisher Foods, said he has been in dispute with the local authority for three months. Having served fish and chips on Box Hill for more than two decades he says unless the council change its mind he can no longer set up on a Friday afternoon.
“I’ve been officially warned that I will be trading illegally,” he said. “The majority of people up there [Box Hill] wouldn’t have cars. When you have a village area with very little public transport, shockingly bad service and nothing else up there it’s the small things we offer for community service.
“I wish to say from Fishers Food to thank the residents of Box Hill for everything they’ve done for me for twenty years of loyal business. It's just been wiped out overnight.”
Fish and chip fans were also left concerned, including June Edmonds, who lives on Box Hill and orders from the van every Friday. As well as the food she said the “popular” service also acted as a way for the local community to get together every week.
“Now suddenly they’ve decided he’s not allowed to stop there anymore,” she added. “It’s just so upsetting for so many people, there are so many elderly people up here and it’s their treat every week.
“To a lot of people [they say] ‘well it’s only fish and chips’ but to so many people it's a treat every week they can actually go out to get. They can’t be going down to the fish and chip shop in Dorking. We can’t understand the reasoning why.”
A Mole Valley District Council spokesperson said it received reports of "nuisance behaviour" earlier this year on Box Hill Road. The council added trading is prohibited on the street and that Fishers Foods could use alternative roads.
“Earlier in the year we received a complaint relating to nuisance behaviour by a street trader operating a food van on Box Hill Road," a council spokesperson said. "During the on-site visit, it also came to our attention that there were two other street traders operating on the same road. One of those street traders was ‘Fishers Food’.
“We are bound by the existing regulations in place in Mole Valley and, concerning the three traders on Box Hill, we acted swiftly in the best interest of the local community and advised the traders that they would be unable to trade on Box Hill Road. It should be said that there are other alternative streets on Box Hill that they could apply for consent from us to trade from should they wish."
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