THE popular owner of a fish and chip shop which became a community institution, is stepping down after 15 years in the job.

Linda Briscombe, dubbed the fish and chip queen of Kirkby Malzeard, near Ripon, has sold the business.

However, Mrs Briscombe has kept her pledge to a former owner to ensure that the premises remain a traditional chippy.

Despite an offer to establish the community's first take-away, Mrs Briscombe decided to keep the promise she made to former owners Joe and Nellie Taylor, never to change its use.

She said: "That was my promise and and I've kept it."

Mrs Briscombe, who has two daughters, Karen, 23, and Helen, 20, described her business as a friendly shop where she did not sell cups of tea but often served cuppas on the house.

Born in the area, Mrs Briscombe, 49, recalled how she made herself a youthful promise to buy the local business.

As a child she remembered the shop's back room, which was filled with benches where customers could eat their fish and chips in front of an open fire.

The business attracted customers from surrounding villages and as far away as Scarborough and Whitby.

The shop has been taken over by Guy Jobbins, from Darley, near Pateley Bridge.