Bradford locals queue for 45p chips as prices now ‘too expensive’

Fish and chips is renowned as one of the nation’s favourite dishes but in recent years spiralling costs have pushed up the price of the traditional fare.

A chip shop in Bradford sold portions of the dish at 1970s prices this week to celebrate updates to its shop. BBC News went along to ask people whether a full price-portion is still value for money amid a cost-of-living squeeze.

Hundreds of people lined Leeds Road in Bradford on a sunny Wednesday afternoon.

The street has a myriad of shops and hot food options but the queue which snaked along the pavement was only interested in one – fish and chips.

The Mother Hubbards takeaway was selling portions for just 45p – similar to the price when it opened more than 50 years ago.

Gary Sargent had made the short trip down the M62 to try and get his hands on the dinnertime deal before it sold out.

The 59-year-old tells me: “We’ve been before and it’s usually £18, but for 45p you can’t go wrong can you?

“I’d have it more but the prices they charge nowadays is ridiculous.”

“You’re lucky to get vegetables for under a quid at the moment, so obviously we’ve got to take advantage of this,” Lee Stewart explains from his spot in the queue.

He says: “I remember when fish and chips were under a fiver, so I don’t know when it got to £12.

“It’s the same with burgers.

“The cost-of-living is crazy.”

The increase in the cost of the dish in the past few years is partly due to a combination of increased energy and labour costs, sanctions on Russian seafood due to the invasion of Ukraine and poor potato harvests.

Prices paid to UK farmers for potatoes have were also up last year according to figures from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs’ Agricultural Price Index.

In the same week as the chippy chopped prices, people in Bradford saw their council tax rise by almost 10%, while Yorkshire Water is raising bills by 29%.

The annual bill for a household using a typical amount of gas and electricity rose to £1,849 per year, an increase of £111.

Meanwhile, the simple joys of a Friday night chippy tea has followed suit.

Research suggests the average price of a portion of fish and chips rose to nearly £10 in the five years to July 2024, from £6.48 in July 2019.

Accompanying his mum to the chippy was Naveed Amini.

The 43-year-old says that even things like ketchup have doubled in price in the last few years, while wages are stagnating.

“A bottle of ketchup was £1 a year and a half ago, now we’re paying £2.50 or £3,” he says.

“It has gone up considerably.”

His mum Sultana Amini, 69, remembers a simpler, cheaper, time.

“I remember when it was 3p for fish and chips”, adding that “you can’t even get just chips” for 45p.

“Everything is sky high,” Mrs Amini adds.

Pravin Ladd, 69, was driving along Leeds Road when he noticed the queue of people outside his local chippy.

That was when he remembered about the 45p deal, so he pulled up an joined the queue.

“If you buy fish and chips it’s usually £10,” he says – adding that cooking yourself is not much cheaper.

“When I do my own cooking and I buy a bit of fish it costs £6 or £7, then you add everything else.

“Everything has gone up.”

He added: “To buy fruit and veg it costs me £15, but a few years ago it cost me £2 or £3.

“It seems to go up on a daily basis.”