True love and fried chicken in a bucket are an original recipe

And they say romance is dead. But the team at Preston’s historic Fishergate Kentucky Fried Chicken went that extra mile to make sure lovers were well looked after this Valentine’s Day, myself included.

Manager Gary Mather said the ‘nice, quaint’ restaurant on Preston’s high street was the perfect way to treat the ‘other half’ with a fully-dressed table, slap-up meal, drinks, complete with candles, fresh flowers and wait for it – full table service.

He said: “People are always fascinated with the history of the store and so we thought we’d do something a bit out of the ordinary, introduce something different and see how it goes. It was surprising but our customers have really enjoyed it.

“They don’t expect this from KFC, we just wanted to do that bit extra for Valentine’s.”

In the 13 years I’ve spent with Mr ‘we don’t do Valentine’s’, we’ve exchanged cards, occasionally.

Beggars can’t be choosers. Mr Kentucky will do – no cooking, no dishes; job done.

And it seems we are not alone Fabrizio Pascucci and the ‘love of his life’ best friend Marcella Santemena, 21, were delighted to tuck into their chicken from the best seats in the house.

The pair from Rome were more than happy to swap Italian cuisine for Kentucky’s chicken wings.

The 22-year-old, who works in an Italian Restaurant said: “It was beautiful, I love KFC and it was a bit different with the table and the flowers. They were so welcoming.

“My friend is visiting so we have had a really lovely day for Valentine’s

“I love romance, Disney movies and fairy-tale endings. I truly believe in love and people meeting their Prince Charmings!”

Printer Nathan Ashurst, 18, from Warrington treated his girlfriend of eight-months Alicia ,17, a photography student to lunch.

He said: “We’re visiting Preston for the day shopping and thought we’d grab something to eat – we like KFC”

Gary added: “The table has gone down really well, people coming in taking photos, we had a family who really enjoyed it.

And with six couples booked in for the evening 40 minute sittings, the team had a busy night ahead and perhaps possibility of a surprise proposal?

Gary who has worked in the fast food industry for 10 years, previously at Liverpool Airport said: “You never know.

“We had a proposal whilst I was working at the airport once, someone asked if we could put something together in the restaurant, we made a bit of a fuss and it went down very well!”