FAST food giant KFC will open a new restaurant in Minehead at the end of May, the company announced this week.

But news of the development in The Avenue, which is set to create around 20 jobs, was tempered by confirmation that the town's branch of Currys will close on July 11 with the loss of seven jobs, including three full-time posts.

A spokesman for the company - the UK's biggest electrical retailer - described the closure as regrettable but the result of an ongoing review of Currys' high street portfolio.

KFC, an American-based business which first brought its fried chicken concept to Britain in 1965, is taking over the former Rump and Fillet restaurant.

A KFC spokesman said: "We are delighted to confirm that we will be opening a new restaurant in Minehead.

"We look forward to welcoming local residents to try our Colonel's famous recipe of 'finger lickin good' chicken."

Opticians Specsavers, meanwhile, has said Minehead is not on its current list of potential new locations.

Although at least one local resident told the Free Press this week that he had been informed a branch of the opticians would be opening in the town within two months, a spokesman denied this.

"It's fair to say that we are always looking at anywhere that does not have a Specsavers but Minehead is not on the current list."

Town centre trade received a welcome boost yesterday (Thursday) when frozen food retailer Iceland opened the doors to its new store in the former Woolworths outlet.

The new development will create an estimated 31 jobs.

However, the impact of the recession continues to be felt in the town, with long established off-licence Threshers ceasing trading just under a fortnight ago.

Minehead Chamber of Trade chairman Graham Sizer said the openings and closures on the high street

were a sign of the times: "But thankfully for Minehead good vacant property is soon being snapped up on the whole - and not by charity shops, as happened in the 1980s."

Mr Sizer said although local people and visitors would welcome the arrival of Iceland and KFC in the town, the loss of Currys was tragic.

"When a shop closes because of lack of local trade, we can all see why.

"But when our Woolworths and Currys - both of which traded well and provided an excellent service locally - cease trading, the blame is found much further up the economic chain.

"Economies of scale and shareholders' decisions, both moulding influences in today's retail world, have the whip hand.

"However, I'm confident that West Somerset as a whole will weather this downturn better than the bigger cities and again I say we must be as prepared for the extra influx of visitors as we can this summer.

"They bring the cash the rest of us live on through the winter months. A clean and tidy outlet, whether it be a hotel or a shop, and a big smile go a long way."