Chippie defies crunch.

THE British love affair with fish and chips has been barely dented by the economic downturn in one Mid Wales town.

Owners of the Celtic Restaurant, Aberaeron, forecast a 15% increase in turnover in the next year.

Which is good news for William Thomas and wife Heather, who established the chippie as a diversification from their beef and sheep farming business.

So confident are they in their prospects, they have now invested pounds 100,000 in a state-of-the-art frying range.

Mr Thomas said: "I'm delighted with this new acquisition. It was crucial for our business to increase capacity as, despite the economic downturn, we are continuing to see an increase in turnover."

The couple farm more than 200 acres in the area, including 130 Suffolk cross and Welsh Half-Bred sheep as well as a herd of 110 suckler cows.

They diversified from agriculture nearly 20 years ago when they bought a Spar outlet in Aberaeron.

Soon afterwards they opened a chippie in the building before moving to the 100-cover Celtic Restaurant in Market Street. Now they've bought a top-of-the-range Hewigo-Bateman frier, financed through a finance agreement from Lombard, part of the RBS Group.

CAPTION(S):

The Thomas family with Graham Harvey, of NatWest, Aberystwyth