Fast-food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken faces a new challenger after US based Texas Chicken revealed it would open 50 fast-food outlets in the UK by the end of the year.

Texas Chicken, known as Church’s Chicken in the USA, has signed up 50 franchisees from the Dixy Fried Chicken chain and will convert all the sites by the end of the year.

However, the transition To Texas Chicken will be even quicker for most with 36 sites expected to be operating under the brand by the end of March.

The first sites will open in Birmingham and East London on Saturday 9 February.

Harsha Agadi, chief executive of Church’s Chicken, said: “Currently in the UK, there are no strong players to compete with KFC. We are entering this market to grow aggressively and provide an alternative.”

Texas Chicken will have to go a long way to match the dominance of KFC which currently has 722 restaurants in the UK.

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By Christopher Walton

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