An Indian restaurant overlooking the River Dee and North Wales reached the finals of the ‘curry Oscars’.

Britannia Spice at 18-19 The Parade, Parkgate, was shortlisted for the Best Spice Restaurant North West Award category at the coveted British Curry Awards 2013.

The ninth annual awards were announced at a star-studded dinner and ceremony in London, fondly termed the ‘curry Oscars’ by Prime Minister David Cameron who attended.

The restaurant’s website offers ‘a journey through the exotic cuisine from the rich heritage of the Indian sub-continent’ with an ‘unrivalled range of authentic and imaginative traditional and classical Indian food’.

Organisers describe the awards as ‘eagerly anticipated annually by the industry and restaurateurs alike, with winning restaurants realising lifetime dreams through being awarded’.

The UK curry industry is said to boast 10,000 restaurants and 80,000 employees contributing �3.6bn annually to the economy.

Twenty five million curries are consumed each week it is claimed.

The nomination process invites members of the public to put forward their favourite Indian eatery for a deserving accolade with 236,000 nominations being received. The event was organised by one of the UK curry industry’s leading figures, Enam Ali MBE, and was hosted by TV personality, Chris Tarrant.

“I wish this Great British industry every possible success in the years to come,” Mr Cameron commented.

The Britannia was pipped for the regional title by The Viceroy in Carlisle.