A CHIPPY served up battered pieces of plastic fish instead of their usual cod to customers in a video stunt to highlight the plight of our oceans.

Battered plastic fish was sold to unsuspecting customers at The Chippery, Blackburn, to raise awareness of marine pollution.

The stunt, posted online today in a two-minute video, was staged and filmed by Plastic Oceans UK as part of a campaign to highlight the threat to one of Britain’s ‘beloved’ national dishes.

Lancashire Telegraph:

Several customers reacted angrily and some even swore at staff, who were actually actors working for Plastic Oceans UK.

In the film, directed by Blackburn film-maker Aaron Dunleavy, one man complains to an actor working behind the front counter and says: “That’s batter and a f****** piece of plastic in it mate with five chips.”

Hatice Tasdemir, who has worked at the Corporation Street chippy for 18 months and helped the actors on the day of the stunt, described the initial reactions by customers as ‘shocking’.

Lancashire Telegraph:

The 39-year-old mum-of-three said: “I was worried before we started because I did not know how they would react to being given a plastic fish.

“The customers were really angry at first. Some of them shouted and swore at the people serving them, who were actually actors."

Around 39 cod, a mixture of real and plastic, were prepared by actors for the stunt and over 30 people visited the shop on the day of the film shoot on Thursday, October 18.

The film marks the launch of the #futurefishandchips campaign, raising awareness of how plastic pollution is affecting the ocean’s fish and people’s ability to continue eating it within our lifetime.

Eight million tonnes of plastic are estimated to enter the ocean each year, which is predicted to increase to over 20 million tonnes by 2030.

Dr Geoff Brighty, of Plastic Oceans UK, said: “The amount of plastic reaching the ocean threatens not only the future of fish, but our future, too. If we continue, not only will our beloved national dish be a thing of the past, but we’ll be facing other catastrophic problems.”

Mrs Tasdemir, of Bethesda Close, Blackburn, added: “We wanted to help Plastic Oceans UK to get the message out there about plastic pollution and grab people’s attention.

"I think was a worthwhile exercise.”