A NEW fried chicken restaurant is opening in Westpark, Wellington, next door to the site of a planned KFC.

Miss Millie's Fried Chicken, which operates 11 restaurants across the UK, is getting ready to open its doors to customers in Wellington.

The new Wellington store will be housed within the Shell filling station in Westpark, joining Subway as a second fast-food concession at the site.

The premisses will be just a stone's throw away from the site of the proposed KFC 'Drive Thru' restaurant which would be built between the Skylark and Costa Coffee.

Millie's is advertising for staff to join its new Wellington store, and is looking to hire as many as 30 workers.

Miss Millie's takes its name from the granddaughter of Colonel Sanders, the iconic founder and face of KFC. Harry Latham set up the Miss Millie's chain in 1988. He previously worked as a director for KFC UK and is said to have been good friends with the Colonel's granddaughter, Mildred.

Serving a range of food, drinks, and desserts, including chicken burgers, wraps, hot wings, and churros - Wellington Millie's is set to open in late May.

The new fried chicken restaurant is opening in late May
The new fried chicken restaurant is opening in late May (Miss Millie's)

Millie's Wellington restaurant comes after the chain secured an agreement with the Motor Fuel Group, which will see more Millie's appearing at garage forecourts across the UK.

Carl Traill, managing director for Miss Millie's, said: "We are delighted to have partnered with MFG, so that more people can access Millie's awesome chicken when on the move.

"We can’t wait to bring the Miss Millie's brand to the residents of Wellington, and create up to 30 new job opportunities in the area."

"Miss Millie's has been serving awesome chicken in Bristol and the South West for over 30 years, and we are excited to be travelling further south into Somerset, and the town of Wellington."

MFG’s food service director, Paul Deary, said: “'Food to Go' is becoming a growing attraction to our forecourt customers. We are always looking to offer high quality and exciting products and I believe that the introduction of Miss Millie’s ‘awesome chicken’ range will prove to be a success.”

News of the new Millie's store came after it was revealed KFC had requested permission for a new  2,680 sq ft restaurant in the Westpark estate. The new KFC is also looking to recruit 30 members of staff, with 18 part-time roles and 12 full-time positions on offer.

Proposals for a new KFC in Westpark have been submitted to the planning authority
Proposals for a new KFC in Westpark have been submitted to the planning authority (Summerfield Developments Ltd)

KFC's plans were welcomed by Wellington Cllr Andrew Govier, who said: "It is positive that we are now getting national and international companies coming to the Wellington area.

“It widens the appeal of that estate to people and hopefully it will bring more people into Wellington as well.

“Once they have had their KFC they will hopefully come into the town and see what we have to offer in the shops in the town centre as well.”

Westpark was built in 2007 for use as a business and light industry employment site.

Since that time it has transitioned into a mixed use development, as local authorities awarded permissions for a series of retail, food, and leisure outlets to begin trading at the estate.

Among the businesses which have already been approved are McDonald's, Costa, Subway, Budgens convenience store, two gyms, a Shell petrol station, and the medium-secure mental health Wellesley Hospital.