Chip shop owners across Wiltshire have revealed they face a stark choice between hiking prices or shutting up shop for good this winter thanks to rising energy bills.

Chippies across the county are struggling to cope with the rising price of electricity and gas, and how much it costs to buy fish.

Many are caught between a rock and a hard place- saying they they don’t want to put their prices up, but cannot afford to keep going without making a profit.

Their worries come as The National Federation of Fish Friers has been speaking about the issue, and is urging the government to cut VAT and support shops.

Aram Shali, who runs the Jolly Friar in Trowbridge, is one of those facing a tough choice.

He said: “It’s not good at all. The number of customers is dropping because our prices are too high.

“We’re not losing money, but we’re losing the profit.

“We’ve now had to sell our fish and chips at £9, but the fish itself to buy is £5 but then you have to put tax on it, energy, staff so it’s really bad for the customer.

“Sometimes when I sell it I feel sorry for them as it’s not their fault.”

Manager of Kingsdown Fish Bar in Swindon, Rosa Mendez, has seen a fall in customers after they put their prices up to stay afloat.

She said: “We’ve lost many customers, but we had no choice because everything is so expensive.

“One fish and chips is now £9.70, where before it was like £6 or £5 but we have to or we’d have to close the doors.”

Stephen Webb runs Buckles in Chippenham and said they have held their prices since March, even though the costs of the work have increased.

He said: “My customers are telling me they’re concerned about the coming winter so where they were coming in once a week, are only coming in once or twice a month.

“Our plan is to break even. The bottom line is; get through the winter to Easter next year, but if we’ll have a business at the end of it remains to be seen.

“We’ve retained all our staff, although some of them aren’t doing quite as many hours.”

The Jolly Friar II in Westbury has also had to raise their prices.

A spokesperson for the shop said: "A lot of it is about taking risks, which you have to do by raising the prices because we want to still be there for the customers.

“With such high energy prices we are just trying to keep up.”