THE OWNER of a fish and chip shop in Wirral is offering customers a 50p takeaway treat as a way of helping tackle the cost-of-living crisis.

This week, a huge sign advertising “50p chips” was placed in the front window of SELfish Fish and Chips on Bromborough high street.

Boris Bektashev, 35, who opened the family-run business with his wife in March last year, said the offer is his way of “helping people” in the local area.

He told the Globe: “We decided to introduce the offer because of the cost-of-living crisis. We have a lot of elderly people in the area who come in and order cod and will always ask for just a ‘handful’ of chips.

“I felt uncomfortable charging them full price for a portion of chips so I introduced the 50p offer as I thought it would help many people.”

Since introducing the offer, Boris says it’s been a hit with locals and that there are no plans to stop it.

He said: “Everyone absolutely loves it so I think it will definitely stay for the foreseeable.”

Like many businesses, Boris says he is still navigating through the cost of living crisis while running SELfish.

He said: “We don’t have as many staff as other shops may have me and my wife run it all ourselves. So although it's helped a lot to cut the bills we take the weight of running a business on our shoulders to carry on going.

“So we are still struggling but it's manageable. It’s just a matter of hard work.”

Boris who lives in Huyton in Liverpool moved to the UK 14 years ago from Bulgaria. When he arrived in Liverpool he ran a takeaway for seven years. However, when rent prices started to rise Boris was forced to pack up and look elsewhere.

He said: “SELfish came on the market for the right price and I saw the possibility of improving the business. I work here seven days a week all day and we’ve been doing our best to get better and it seems to be working.

“I don’t make a fortune off the 50p chips, but it brings people into the shop and when people order the 50p chips they might also get a fish or a sausage so every penny counts. You don’t have to be greedy to get money you need to give in order to get.”