Prestonians take a look at the KFC on Fishergate in 1965 Pic: Preston Digital Archive

Preston loses a little of its modern history in the coming weeks as KFC prepares to move from Fishergate.

It was the first Kentucky Fried Chicken to open in the UK, in May 1965, with Preston picked as the first one to try out their fried chicken.

Prestonians have been reacting to the news.

Sally Edmundson-Bird said: “Ordinarily I’d be punching the air to see a fast food chain outlet in town close but this one is a poignant loss.”

While Ben Astley felt it was linked to the new Fishergate layout.

He said: “So that’s a ringing endorsement of the works carried out on Fishergate…..”

While Blog Preston contributor Tony Worrall made a very good point. What happens to the plaque inside declaring it the first KFC.

@blogpreston @kfc What will they do with the plaque and photo from inside? pic.twitter.com/EVLiyekc8U

— Tony Worrall (@TonyWorrall1) November 28, 2014

River, commenting on Blog Preston’s story, made a more political statement: “On a day which we’ve suddenly decided to call ‘Black Friday’, and a day where alarming statistics about the impact of obesity on the NHS are racking up, this shop is a little piece of the history of the origins of the Americanisation of UK society. It doesn’t seem to have occurred to the vastly wealthy multinational that owns KFC to mark this piece of history in some way – perhaps by repaying a little of the cash Prestonians have poured into their tills in return for meat swimming in saturated fats to contribute something that will be useful to the health and welfare of Preston people.”

Chris Hatton was fairly morbid about the news.

He said: “They better open another, I don’t know how I will get through each year without an allowance of KFC to hand!”

What do you think about KFC leaving Fishergate? Let us know in the comments below