A PAIR of fabulous fryers have hung up their aprons after almost 30 years of serving up fish and chips to the people of Wemyss Bay.

Brothers Ignazio and Silvio Porceddu are saying goodbye to their loyal customers as they retire from their roles at Macari's Fish and Chips after nearly three decades. 

Ignazio's godson Marco Leotta will now be running the popular shop on Shore Road. 

Ignazio, 62, said the 30 years have 'flown in' and says he will miss the people of Wemyss Bay and beyond very much. 

He said: "I'm coming up for retirement age and Silvio is 70 now so it's the right time for us to go. 

"It's time for the new generation to come up now.

"I have no doubt Marco and the team will do very well."

Ignazio left his family home in Sardinia in 1977 when he was just 16 and arrived in Glasgow where he got a job working at the Central Hotel. 

He left there to pursue a career working on cruise liners all over the world, and lived in places including New Jersey, Miami and California. 

Ignazio opted to make Glasgow his base in the early 1980s and worked in restaurants including the famous Dino's on Sauchiehall Street. 

He met his now ex-wife Marie Bamford, who was from Greenock, at the Savoy nightclub in Glasgow in 1986 and moved to Inverclyde in 1990, just after Italy hosted the World Cup. 

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Ignazio started working for Marie's uncle Ettore Macari at Macari's when he moved to Inverclyde and took over the shop after Ettore retired in 1994. 

He says life in the chippy was totally different from anything he had ever done before. 

Ignazio added: "I had no social life working in the restaurants and suddenly I could socialise and meet people. 

"I got to know all of the customers coming in.

"We used to see children coming into the shop and now see them as grown men and women with their own families. 

"People travel from all over for a fish supper, sometimes even down from Glasgow."

Ignazio's brother Silvio joined him in 2009 and the shop carved a big place in his heart. 

Ignazio added: "He came here to see me for a holiday and never left."

His daughter, Giovanna, added: "Even though Silvio has been here for so many years, the only English phrases he really knows are 'salt and vinegar' and 'fish and chips'.

"Silvio loves the place, he was always up so early getting ready to open up. 

"He made sure the shop was open when it was the 'Beast from the East' in 2018. 

"He wanted the locals to be able to get their fish and chips and to know the shop was there for them."

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Giovanna, 30, says she and her twin brothers Gianluca and Carlo, 27, spent a lot of time in the shop growing up. 

She added: "Almost everyone in the family has worked in the shop at some point. 
"I have great memories of coming into the shop with my mum and having a wee nap on the bags of potatoes in the back shop. 

"The shop will still be very much in the family."

New manager Marco Leotta is the son of the late Stefano Leotta, who ran the Barr's Cottage chippy in Greenock and was a great friend of Ignazio. 

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Giovanna's mum's cousin Janice Macari Spella still owns the shop. 

Ignazio, Silvio and the family all live in Glasgow now but say they will definitely make trips back to Wemyss Bay to check on their beloved chippy. 

Ignazio added: "All the locals have kept us going and we will really miss them and will miss the shop. 

"We want to say 'thank you' to all of the community and our customers."