AN exciting new food venture at a popular West Kilbride chippy is proving a real family affair - with a former Blue Lagoon fryer at the helm. 

Stephen Mills and Lorna Wraith have bought The Village Chippy to help Lorna’s son Dylan hone his skills and take over the hit takeaway in the future.

Dylan, 23, who will fry and serve behind the counter with sister Hannah, 19, was previously a fish fryer at the famous seafront eatery in Largs for six years after leaving school.

Mum Lorna says the opportunity to take over the established village business was an opportunity the family couldn’t turn down.

She said: “These chances don’t come around very often so we decided to just go for it, even though only one of us had worked in a chip shop before.

“I work in finance and Stephen is a builder, so it’s a real family effort, with Dylan taking the main role.

“It started as an off-the-cuff remark one day and we just thought why not? Without Dylan’s experience it would just not have been possible.”

Lorna says she hopes the investment will provide a platform for her son to 'fry high' in the future.

She explained: “Our focus is really on Dylan and Hannah, we will look for him to take this over one day.

“We have one person from the village working behind the counter as well, someone who has been a friend of the family for a number of years, so we are all in this together."

Loran joked: "Touch wood, there haven’t been too many arguments so far, just a few tense moments, but we have managed to get over them.

“We are working through all the challenges of a new business as a family and we all have things to learn.”

Lorna reveals it has been a successful start for the family thanks to the help if a unique Easter offering.

She added: “The previous owners of The Village Chippy did a great job and we want to build on that reputation.

“It seems to be going down well and the village has supported us in their numbers in our first few weeks.

“The feedback has been fantastic, especially for our deep fried Crème Eggs which we sold over Easter.

“A few people tried them and they seemed to like them, we might see what we can cook up next."