A Government watchdog is targeting Britain's favourite fast food snack, urging chip shop owners to produce thicker versions that contain fewer calories and less fat.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has launched a project in 80 fish and chip shops across the country aimed at making their food healthier.
Officials want fryers to increase the size and thickness of their chips because chunkier versions absorb less fat in a bid to help tackle Britain's obesity crisis.
They believe making individual chips bigger will slash the calorie content of an average portion of fish and chips, which contains 595 calories and 9.42g of fat.
However, food industry representatives said interfering officials risked ruining Britain's best-loved takeaway meal.
Douglas Roxburgh, president of the National Federation of Fish Fryers, slammed the move as ''ill-thought out'' and ''over the top''.
He said: ''They should be concentrating fast food outlets who make the thin French fries, not the traditional independent chip shop.
''We will be opposing this as much as we can until they make it a level playing field and start asking McDonalds, KFC and Burger King to change their chip sizes too.
''At the moment it seems like a case of picking on the little guys because they can't touch the big guys – which is totally unfair.''
Mr Roxburgh also warned a ban on fries could lead to financial problems for many small businesses.
He added: ''We cut our chips with chipper blades, which are set in certain sized blocks.
''Why should small chip shops have to splash out on buying blocks with different measurements just because the councils say they have to?
''If the shops do pay out for new blocks their businesses may suffer if customers do not like the fatter chips anyway.''
The FSA said it also aimed to encourage ''good frying practices'' in fish and chip shops by altering the temperature of their cooking oil and portion sizes.
The pilot scheme was launched in November 2009 and will be extended across Cambridgeshire, Greater Manchester and Northern Ireland this month.
Local authorities will visit chip shops to examine how much fat is in a portion of chips and if the scheme is successful it will be rolled out across the country.
It will run for the next two years and will extend to other small catering businesses including Indian and Chinese takeaways within the next 12 months.
In a letter sent out last November to local authorities the FSA said their aim was ''to help enable small, incremental and sustained changes''.
A spokesman for the FSA yesterday defended the project and claimed small changes in local chip shops could tackle Britain's growing obesity crisis.
He said: ''The aim of the pilot project is to produce some targeted advice for businesses which is simple, practical and easy to implement.
''For fish and chip shops this includes advice as simple as choosing the type of oil to cook in or the temperature of the oil and thickness of chips.
''Both can make a big difference to the nutritional value of chips.
''We'd also encourage businesses to offer customers a range of portion sizes, allowing people to choose smaller ones when they wish to.''
A council in West Norfolk was last year criticised for trying to reduce salt consumption by reducing the number of holes in fish and chip salt shakers.
The council sent out 200 new shakers with four holes instead of 17 to all 39 chippies in their area at a cost of £450 to the taxpayer.
There are currently more than 11,000 fish and chip shops across the UK selling 255 million fish and chip meals every year.
A portion of fish and chips contains less calories and fat than a pizza, containing 871 calories and 11g of fat, or a chicken korma containing 910 calories and 15.5g of fat.
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