THE Yo! restaurant at Swindon's Designer Outlet is offering free fried chicken to customers this Christmas.

The chain is embracing the Japanese tradition of eating fried chicken over the festive period.

More than 3.6 million buckets of fried chicken are consumed in Japan each Christmas.

The Yo! Bucket Exchange rewards anyone who bring an empty bucket to one of 50 participating restaurants, delivering a free refill of Japanese fried chicken.

The campaign is designed to celebrate the launch of Yo!’s new festive menu, with 2,000 buckets of fried chicken available today and tomorrow.

The bucket is usually worth £14.95 and a vegetarian option is available, too.

Victoria Mathers from Yo! said “This Christmas, we’re introducing Japanese Fried Chicken to give consumers an unexpected twist on the Christmas menu. It is is sure to send hungry foodies flocking to our restaurants, but if you miss out, don’t worry – you can still enjoy the dish on our festive menu throughout December.”