�A greasy spoon cafe in Finsbury frequented by Jamie Oliver and Tom Jones has been handed the prestigious title of best builder’s breakfast in Britain.

The full English at the Shepherdess Cafe, in City Road, topped a poll of 65,000 plumbers, electricians, builders and roofers to be named the finest in the county.

A trophy was presented to the proprietor Nick Menagatos at a celebratory breakfast on Tuesday morning where Paul Southward, the customer who nominated the Shepherdess, and three friends were treated to a free breakfast.

‘Great news’

Mr Menagatos said: “The secret to our breakfasts is to always use top quality ingredients - never skimp on the bacon.

“It seems to work. We are normally busy and Jamie Oliver is a bit of a regular here, you could say a friend of the cafe.”

The Shepherdess, which fought off brekkie from shortlisted establishments in Durham, Bolton and south London, is a big hit with tradesmen working on nearby building sites as well as the doctors and nurses from Moorfields Eye Hospital.

It has a classic greasy spoon look, with plastic sauce bottles, painted-on curtains and plenty of white vans parked outside.

The competition was organised by mybuilder.com, an online tradesmen to homeowner matching service, who asked members to vote for their favourite nosh.

Hundreds of entries were whittled down before a panel of judges chose a winner.

Ryan Notz, boss of mybuilder.com, said: “There are a lot of cafes that tradesmen frequent where you don’t feel welcome, but the Shepherdess is not like that, it’s really friendly with a good mix of people.

“The food is fantastic, particularly the fried slice and they do a cracking cuppa.”

Mr Southward, of Expert Electricians, who nominated the cafe, said: “The food is always fantastic and there is a great atmosphere.”