A PETITION has been launched in a bid to make Darlington’s new Nando’s halal.

Campaigners are hoping to ensure the popular chicken chain can be frequented by the town’s Muslim population.

The restaurant, scheduled to open as part of the town's new Feethams development in late March, is currently expected to serve non-halal food.

An online petition has called on the chain to reconsider its decision, saying a halal restaurant would increase revenue.

A statement published alongside the petition says: “Darlington sports a large Muslim community.

“Making the restaurant halal will not only serve as a formal and sensible approach to Darlington’s culturally diverse community but when viewed through a business-minded lens, it will maximise profits and increase revenue.”

It continued: “Darlington is host to roughly 10,000 Muslims and by making the restaurant haram, you will be restricting thousands of potential customers from coming to the restaurant.”

However, according to the 2011 census, just 0.9 per cent of Darlington's 105,000 population (roughly a thousand people) described themselves as Muslim.

A spokesman for Nando's told The Northern Echo: “It’s great to hear that we have so many passionate fans and we actively take all feedback seriously.

"However, when deciding whether a restaurant will serve halal chicken, we always consider a number of factors - including local demand and business needs and currently over a fifth of our restaurants serve halal chicken."

One supporter of the petition is Sajna Miah, representative of Darlington’s Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Network.

She said Darlington currently has no halal restaurants outside of those cooking food families from a BME background already eat at home.

Ms Miah said: “A lot of families prefer to eat at English restaurants when they go out but there aren’t really any halal in Darlington.

“People travel to Nando’s in Newcastle where there are already halal restaurants but it’s difficult for anyone who can’t get there.

“There are thousands of people in Darlington’s BME community and most of those are Muslim.

“Nando’s are missing out on a huge audience – if they’d done their research properly, they’d know there’s so much potential for halal food.

She added: “When people get up and do something about it, they stand a chance of changing things.

“There’s no harm in signing this petition, you might as well try and do something.”

The petition can be found online at: change.org/p/rob-papps-make-nando-s-darlington-serve-halal-food

A number of Nando’s restaurants across the region serve halal food.