Fast-food chain KFC will create 1,600 jobs this year as it plans to open more than 40 new restaurants across the UK and Ireland.
The US fried chicken firm plans to spend more than £40million on the expansion drive, along with a further £40million on a makeover of 160 of its existing eateries.
The refurbishments will be designed to 'create a more modern, welcoming environment for customers'.
The new restaurants will boost its total number of UK and Ireland outlets to nearly 900, while increasing its workforce above the 24,000 it currently employs.
KFC has added at least 30 new restaurants in the UK each year it has been based here and said it has seen seven years of same-store sales growth in a row.
The group also revealed it is trialling a click and collect iPhone app.
KFC UK, which is a subsidiary of Pizza Hut parent Yum! Brands, came to Britain in 1965, with the first store opening in Preston, Lancashire.
The brand was founded in America by Colonel Harland Sanders in the 1950s.
