ONE Hampshire man is out to prove he is a chip off the old block by taking on his dad in a competition to find the best fish and chips in Britain.

Cod wars have broken out between Shane and John Henry Lee after the father and son decided to go head to head in a national competition to find the country's best fish and chip supper.

Apart from the national title, family pride will be at stake for Shane who has been teaching his eldest son everything about the trade since he was a boy.

He even named the first shop he opened in Hampshire after his first born but now the young pretender is after the bragging rights by entering his shop in the competition.

John, who runs The Codfather at Botley Road Hedge End, after taking it over from his dad last year, said he was confident of success.

"I am hopeful I will do well. It adds to the competition going head to head with my dad, and makes it a bit of fun as well. He has me taught me everything he knows since I was 11 and started working with him."

Shane, 41, who runs J Henry's in Upper Northam Road, Hedge End, is not planning on being battered by his son. He said: "I hope experience will triumph over youth. There is a fair bit of family pride at stake but it makes it more interesting. At the end of the day we both serve quality fish and chips."

The family has been serving in Hedge End since 1988 when Shane opened the J Henry's shop. Since then they estimate to have served up around four million portions of fish and chips to hungry locals.

The pair say the secret of their success comes down to getting the basics right.

John, 23, said: "We both use quality products and ingredients, if you get that right you can't go far wrong. A key point is getting the fresh oil at the right temperature and the rest is all about having friendly staff and running a clean shop."

However, it may well all come down to the batter recipe which is a closely guarded secret neither will give up.

"We do put something extra in to really bring out the taste, but we are not giving that away," said Shane.

The first leg of the competition, run by the Seafish company, ends next week with participating shops handing in the results from 200 survey slips.

Customers were asked to score the shops on a range of areas including taste, presentation, cleanliness and staff friendliness.

The pair will have to wait and see if their scores net them a plaice in the second round when a mystery customer is sent into the shop to sample the goods.

After that judges spend the day at shortlisted shops before regional winners then being picked to battle it out at a national awards ceremony.

Shane is hoping to better his performance in the 1997 competition when he was a regional runner-up.