Pie and mash shop owners have welcomed a suggestion to make the Cockney staple a national treasure.

The government is being urged to give the traditional dish the same protected status as the Cornish pasty and Bramley apple pie.

If it gets the nod, those serving up the hearty grub must abide by an exacting recipe to preserve its integrity and be awarded the Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) status.

Dubbed the original fast-food, it started in London’s East End in the 1800s, providing cheap wholesome meals for working-class families.

At the time, the River Thames was full of eels - making them an ideal pie filling and a cheaper option than meat.

Today, the pies are baked with minced beef accompanied with a generous dollop of mashed potato, doused with hot parsley liquor gravy, sometimes using the stock after cooking the eels.

Gradually as more Londoners moved out of the capital, the number of eateries dwindled, but in turn, shops have sprung up in Kent and Essex.

Among those to start a business, were Simon and Donna Maylam who opened Sie’s Pie and Mash in Gravesend nearly 10 years ago.

Donna, 57, believes the foodie status could be a boost for business and protect it from disappearing into the country’s culinary past.

She said: “If it’s good enough for the Cornish pasty, it’s good enough for us.”

The diner at St George’s Shopping Centre attracts fellow Londoners and families looking for more of an affordable deal for a meal out.

She said: “We had a family with four children come in the other day and the bill came to £35.

“A lot of people can’t afford to eat in a fancy restaurant these days.”

The family told Donna if they had gone to another fast-food diner, it would have cost them nearly double.

She said: “We also get quite a lot of pregnant women to come in sometimes three or four times a week. It can become a bit of a craving. And then they come back with their babies.”

Their very English menu also includes other favourites, like faggots and peas, bangers and mash, and ham, egg and chips.

School dinner puddings like spotted dick and custard, sticky toffee pudding, and treacle sponge are also popular with customers.

Former professional boxer George Jupp threw in the towel fighting in tournaments all over the world to open Cathedral Pie House in Rochester High Street seven years ago.

Brought up in Belvedere, south east London, he has now settled in Kent with his young family and is happy he brought a little bit of his childhood to the county.

The 32-year-old said: “Pie and mash is not just food, it’s a culture.

“Keeping it 100% traditional is key, although most places diversify a little.

“We make the pies ourselves three times a week, generally made in-house or if not at a partner shop in Belvedere which has been trading for 30 years.”

George added: “We get a lot of Londoners as well as locals.

“Our pie and mash is particularly popular in the winter months.”

Former Conservative minister Richard Holden is leading a campaign to secure protected status for traditional pie and mash.

He has approached the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) about an application for Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) status for the dish.

The former Tory party chairman will lead a parliamentary debate in Westminster to further press the case for the “cracking” products to get the “recognition they deserve”.

Other foods protected in the UK include Yorkshire Wensleydale cheese, Jersey Royal potatoes and Scottish salmon, while Champagne should only be called such if the grapes are grown in the region of France of the same name.