A “clean-up Craven” protest by anti-litter campaigners in the Yorkshire Dales is to hold a fish and chip protest supper in Skipton next week – with the fish supper being served up in the traditional newspaper wrappings.

Members of the Skipton and Craven branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England are hoping to persuade fish and chip shop owners to stop serving their food in take-away polystyrene trays which are virtually indestructible.

Said one CPRE member: “In the old days, fish and chips were always served on grease-proof paper wrapped in newspaper to keep them warm. These were quickly bio-degradable, even if they were discarded in the street – which was fairly rare because people were much tidier then.

“Now, these plastic trays get dumped all over the place, in the street, into the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, and are thrown out of car windows in some of the loveliest spots of the Yorkshire Dales. There, they remain an eyesore for months, if not years.

“We are in no away opposed to fish and chips – it is a fine meal and a great English tradition – but only wish that the chippies would go back to the old ways of serving them.”

The big fish supper eat in is at the Three Links Club, Skipton, at 7.30 pm on Wed. 15th October.