FANCY a crunchy snack with a crinkle cut, ready salted or smoky bacon twist to it?

Then a Keighley entrepreneur should have exactly what you want. Oakworth Road resident Mark Pearson has formally opened England's first shop dedicated to the humble, but always popular crisp sandwich!

And he's already attracting attention from beyond Keighley. He launched Mr Crisp in front of a small crowd of reporters, councillors, family members and well-wishers in Victoria Road, Knowle Park, this morning.

He said he has stocked up on dozens of different flavoured bags of crisps and toppings, to meet demand for even the most imaginative, exotic or just plain weird crisp sandwich combinations.

He said: "I am the biggest crisp monster there is and has ever been. My favourite's got to be Monster Munch in a nice white bread.

"Everybody loves a big crisp sandwich no matter what your culture. I've asked thousands of people about what their favourite crisps are and I was getting loads of messages last night asking when we're opening and saying they fancied a crisp sandwich right then, so we could soon turn in to a takeaway on a night."

Mr Crisp was inspired by the similar Simply Crispy pop up shop in Belfast, which ran out of stock within two hours when it opened in January.

Mr Pearson, 42, was among five generations of his family present at the busy opening, including his uncle Trevor, daughters Emma and Chenelle and father Mick.

Mr Pearson senior said: "Mark's been planning and researching this for a while but he had to do this before someone else jumped in first."

Emma Pearson said her father first broke the news to her of his idea only three weeks ago. "I thought it was crazy, but I was very excited to hear about it," she said.

Managing the shop for Mark Pearson is Fell Lane resident Sarah Taylor, who said she would be helped by her daughter Evie during the summer holidays.

"It's a brand new concept for England, and something very different from the ordinary," she added.

"We can serve some pretty strange concoctions – we've already had someone ask for Galaxy chocolate spread with cheese and onion crisps.

"I can't say that appeals to me, but we tell people that if they want something we'll make it, and if we can't we'll get it for them next time!"

Tucking into a slightly more conventional tuna and cheese and onion crisp sandwich at the opening was Keighley town mayor Councillor Javaid Akhtar, who also cut the ribbon to launch the shop.

"It's a very, nice, tasty sandwich and I'm thoroughly enjoying it," he said.

"I'm absolutely delighted for Mark and I hope it's the start of even bigger things for him.

"You only have to see how many people from the media are here to see how unique this is. It's also revitalising the area by bringing a shop back into use."

"I think Mark and Mr Crisp can go far. I hope he can go from one shop to hundreds and I read about him in magazine somewhere soon."

Cllr Akhtar was accompanied by fellow town councillor Shabir Ahmed, who was keen to try out some of what the shop has to offer.

"I think it's a brilliant idea," he said. "It's quick and convenient and it should do very well. This is in a very residential area and it should definitely make a lot of little children happy at dinner time!"

Amongst the first through the doors when Mr Crisp opened for business was Gareth Farrington from Keighley. The committed crisp sandwich fan promised he will be a regular customer.

"The best thing is the initial crunch when you bite through your bread, you can't beat it," he said. "For me it's always got to be cheese and onion with some tuna in there but I'm always up for some new ideas."

TOP TEN QUIRKY SANDWICH COMBINATIONS FROM MR CRISP

  1. Galaxy Chocolate spread with cheese and onion crisps
  2. Monster Munch crisp sandwich, with salad cream
  3. Salt and vinegar crisp sandwich with tomato sauce
  4. Barbecued saucers crisps with marshmallow
  5. Hula Hoops with Galaxy chocolate spread
  6. Peanut butter and Quavers crisps
  7. Jam and crisps
  8. Lemon curd and crisps
  9. Marmite and crisps
  10. Tuna and crisps