Hungry customers helped raise more than £3,000 for Kirkwood Hospice – by munching fried chicken.

Hundreds of people queued patiently at Marstons Chicken Shop in Leeds Road, Bradley, last week for special £1 portions.

The cut-price deal was offered to celebrate the takeaway’s 30th anniversary and every lunchtime for six days, customers could buy two legs and chips for just a quid.

All the money will be donated to Kirkwood Hospice and the final total raised was £3,269.

Marstons will hand over a cheque to the hospice next week.

The offer caught the imagination of chicken fans from far and near and on Thursday and Friday there were queues into Leeds Road.

With workplaces putting in big orders over the phone there were waits of up to an hour.

Thursday was the biggest day with 725 portions sold in four hours.

Marstons was the brainchild of Colnebridge farmer John Marston, now 79, who opened the business with daughter Hazel Dransfield in August 1985.

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The family’s secret recipe has never changed and many customers wouldn’t go anywhere else.

Hazel said she was amazed at the final total and added: “It’s really great.

“It was hard work keeping up with the orders but all the staff have been lifted by it. It’s been really exciting.

“The first day was pretty quiet but by the middle of the week we realised we needed more chicken legs so we didn’t run out.”

Hazel now runs the shop with her sister Jane Atkinson and they employ 26 staff.

Last week’s mad run on the chicken hasn’t put them off and they may do more fundraising in the future.