Food for thought as Preston makes it into the top 10 most '˜restauranty' cities

FOODIES: Preston restaurant people Andrea Mellon of Duk-Pond with Lucy Ditchfield and Heather McNaulty of Turtle Bay

The city ranks ninth for the number of restaurants per head of population.

Newcastle pips Manchester to the top spot with the greatest density of restaurants and York claims third position.

Preston is ranked ninth with one restaurant per 2,809 residents.

Research conducted by Holden Media, organisers of Northern Restaurant & Bar (NRB), one of the UK’s largest hospitality trade shows, has shocked foodies across the country by revealing that Northern cities are challenging London for the title of the UK’s most restaurant dense region.

A surge in new Northern openings has seen the numbers of “residents per restaurant”in the region fall 18 per cent between 2011 and 2015, compared to a decrease of only 13 per cent in London.

The research ranks Newcastle upon Tyne as the North’s most ‘restauranty’ city, with one restaurant for every 1,558 residents.

This is compared to London’s restaurant density of 1,353 residents per restaurant.

Preston Business Improvement District manager Mark Whittle said: “For Preston to be in the top 10, holding its own among some of the biggest cities in the UK – never mind the North – is something about which we should take great pride.

“The leisure and hospitality sector is vitally important to us and the city.

“It is one in which the investment has already been significant and is continuing to grow further.”

Mr Whittle said events including August’s annual ‘Love Food Love Preston’ campaign helped to appreciate and promote the city’s vibrant restaurant trade.