Pub fights KFC for 'family feast'

KFC asked the Tan Hill Inn to drop "family feast" from their menu

A country pub in North Yorkshire is taking on an American fast food giant which claims it is using one of its trademark phrases.

The Tan Hill Inn, the highest pub in England, has been told by Kentucky Fried Chicken to remove the words "family feast" from its menu.

KFC's lawyers said the company had registered the wording as a trademark.

However, the Swaledale pub's landlords said they would fight to use the term to describe their Christmas meal.

KFC's lawyers were first alerted to the use of the phrase by the pub, which stands 1,700 feet (520m) above sea level, after finding a reference to it on the inn's website.

'April Fool's'

The Tan Hill's owners then received a letter asking them not to use the "family feast" description for the festive meal, which includes Guinness and stilton pate, roast turkey and Christmas pudding.

Owner Tracy Daly said she thought the letter was a late April Fool's joke.

She said: "We've been using the phrase to describe exactly what it is - a feast for the family.

"It's an all-day lay out of food that we put on at Christmas and it sums it up perfectly."

She added that they were determined to keep fighting for the right to use the "family feast" description to help defend the freedom of the English language.

A spokesman for KFC said the case was in the hands of their lawyers.