FIVE Sussex restaurants are battling it out to win a prestigious title at this year’s British Kebab Awards.

Bursa Kebab in High Street, Newhaven, will represent the region as one of ten finalists in the category of customer satisfaction.

For best newcomer restaurant, both Etci Kitchen Brighton in Preston Street, Brighton, will face off against Fatma’s Kitchen in The Broadway, Haywards Heath, and eight other nominees from across the country for the title.

Meanwhile, Zeytin in Denne Road, Horsham is set to go head to head with Batman Grill in Battle Road, St Leonards, after both were nominated for best regional kebab restaurant.

The awards, run in association with takeaway firm Just Eat and supported by the Kebab Alliance - the sector’s trade body, recognise and champion the efforts of local kebab takeaways and restaurants across the country.

Now in its ninth year, judges had to choose nominees from a record breaking number of entries for its 18 awards.

Ibrahim Dogus, founder of the British Kebab Awards and director of the Kebab Alliance, said: “Kebab eateries are a key part of the local community and it’s great to see so many entries at the end of the year that has tested every business operating in the hospitality sector.

“Getting to the shortlist is a real achievement given the competition across the country and all outlets should be rightly proud.”

The five restaurants from the region will have to wait until the awards in October to find out if they have been crowned the winner.

Across the UK, there are roughly 20,000 kebab outlets - supporting around 200,000 jobs and contributing more than £2.8 billion a year to the British economy.

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