World famous chip shop faces legal action

When the seafood chef Rick Stein declared the Magpie Cafe in Whitby to be the best chip shop in the world, its owners hoped for a modest upturn in business.

The North Yorkshire chippy had, Stein enthused, "opened my eyes to how good a chip shop could be". Thousands of others had trekked to the town in search of the same culinary enlightenment.

And the Magpie, which has also earned a mention in dispatches from film director Michael Winner, has become so popular that it is now facing legal action over its queues.

Nearby traders say the hordes are obscuring the fronts of their shops, causing a drop in business.

On occasion, up to 100 people have stood in a line stretching from the front door, down the 10 steps outside and along the pavement.

A recent decision to provide a takeaway service only exacerbated the problem and the owner, Ian Robson, is facing a court battle for obstructing the highway after neighbours lodged a formal protest with North Yorkshire County Council.

Tory councillor Herbert Tindall said: "It's a pity the Magpie has found itself in this position because of its own success. We do not want to be dictatorial, but we're looking into it.

"The Magpie Cafe is famous. It really has put Whitby on the map, and people travel from far and wide to come here because of it."

Officials are considering several solutions, including restricting the length of the queue, a booking or ticketing system and widening the existing narrow pavements.

It could also take legal action for obstruction.

Robson, who has worked at the 130-seat Magpie Cafe since 1979, rejected a booking or ticket system, pointing out that at the height of the season it served more than a thousand people a day.

"There have been queues outside the Magpie for as long as I can remember," he said.

"We believe it is people's right to stand in the street.

"We don't ever tell anyone to queue. People queue of their own accord. I can't tell people not to queue."

- INDEPENDENT