TROWBRIDGE is home to two of the south west’s best takeaways after being shortlisted for a national food competition by their customers.

Smokey’s in Stallard Street and Nacho Cheese, now based in Castle Street, were announced in the final 10 eateries in the running to be crowned the Best Takeaway in the South West at the 2016 British Takeaway Awards (BTAs).

The top five, based on a public vote, will seal their place to the finals of the competition in December where they could take the crown of the best in the UK.

Kelly Llewellyn, 32, who co-owns Smokey’s with husband Simon, 33 said the family were completely unaware that their customers had voted for them.

She added: “Knowing that people voted makes us feel over the moon because we didn’t know anything about it so to get a letter through the post to say we’ve been shortlisted is amazing.

“To be shortlisted in the awards is a really positive step for us and we had a baby four weeks ago and so it is nice to know that while we are struggling with the hours in having a new baby, we are achieving great things at the business.

“Some people go out for a night out or break but going to work is enjoyable for us – it is turning work life into more than just work. For our age we feel like we have achieved quite a lot.”

Smokey’s will soon open a new take out in East Street, Warminster in three weeks.

The BTAs, which are run in association with Just Eat, aim to celebrate the range of takeout cuisines across the country and the contribution each owner makes to both their local and UK economy.

Lorraine Priestley, 45 and Adrian Willis, 48 who own Nacho Cheese which has expanded by opening a restaurant in Castle Street, are second time finalists after making the cut last year.

Miss Priestley said: “We were closed for about a month while we got the restaurant ready and that was the main time to vote.

“In the first year, the awards were quite unknown but this year there are lots of people using Just Eat and to think our customers pushed for us to be shortlisted is great and we are just over the moon.

“We have about 4,500 regular customers on our database and a lot of people are saying the takeaway has got even better since doing it from the restaurant. We have put the same amount of effort in our food and everything we make is homemade and we make our own sauces from scratch.”

The public have until Monday (October 24) to visit www.thebtas.co.uk and vote for which one of the 10 local takeaways they think has what it takes to be the best in in the south west.

The finals will be held at The Savoy Hotel, London on December 5.