Haddock Smoked

One of London's finer fish & chip shops was gutted yesterday by a fire that ripped through the building. The Sea Shell of Lisson Grove, in Marylebone, caught fire at around 5.30pm, while diners were still at their tables liberally applying their tartar sauce. Mercifully, nobody was injured, but most of the restaurant, popular with local small-fry celebrities and tourists, was destroyed. As one of the capital's finer fish emporia, it's a gastronomic tragedy, but it has inspired an outpouring of wit and wisdom among Standard reader, who've left their puntastic best in the online edition's comments section — something we've soberly restrained from doing in this brief missive. (Image / MykReeve)