Mobile Chippy serving Banburyshire and Warks and Northants villages is wrecked by fire - but still serving fish and chips

Two staff in the van, run by Howe & Co 66 Frankly Fish & Chips, escaped shocked but safely. However their vehicle was completely wrecked. The fire happened on the Oxford Ring Road last Friday afternoon.

A spokesman for the company said: “It was the van which caught fire, not the chippy boiler. The dashboard went up in flames so nothing to do with the cooking oil.

"Most importantly and thankfully we would like to reassure everyone that Simeon and Libby are safe and unhurt albeit a bit shocked!”

The van was owned by a franchise of Howe & Co operating in Oxfordshire.

"We operate Van 66, Van 99 and – until the disaster - Van 69. We are a family-run business, Dad and son with another son and daughter also working on the vans. We started the franchise in 2017 with one van and have built up from there.

“The fire started at the front in the dashboard of the cab while driving. We used our own extinguishers and those of passing motorists but to no avail.

“We are managing to cover rounds at the moment fortunately as we are lucky enough and would like to thank Howe & Co head office for lending us a van as one of our other vans has been off the road for some mechanical reasons.”

The mobile chippy serves numerous villages in Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and Northants on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis.

Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue service said an appliance from Slade Park Fire Station and two appliances from Rewley Road Fire Station and were called to the fire on the Oxford ring road.

"The Decontamination and Environmental Protection Unit from Didcot Fire Station was also required for their specialist equipment and skills,” a statement said.

“On attendance, initial crews closed both sides of the carriageway due to liquid gas cylinders being affected by the fire. Crews managed to utilise the light portable pump to lift water from the river below so they had a good supply of water to extinguish the blaze.

“Two breathing apparatus teams using hose reels and main jets were used to tackle the flames. Crews were on scene for around two hours.”

The company put out a Facebook message to customers this week saying: “Thank you all so much for your kind thoughts and words after our disaster last week. We will endeavour to keep rounds running normally. Please bear with us for any changes we have to make which we hope will be minimal.”

The Chippy Van goes to Priors Marston, Pillerton Priors, Ettington, Alderminster, Preston on Stour and Newbold on Stour in Warwickshire; in Northamptonshire communities including Mixbury, King’s Sutton, Charlton, Middleton Cheney and Evenley and in north Oxfordshire, villages from the Heyfords, the Bourtons, Wroxton and Chipping Norton to Fritwell, Souldern, Hinton in the Hedges and Ardley.

The company’s Facebook page can be found here.