Little Chef may soon have cooked his last meal. After nearly 50 years, the chain is being broken up and the name is likely to disappear for ever.
Owners Travelodge is putting 120 of the restaurants up for sale and will rename 115 others which it intends to keep.
It is thought possible that a rival like McDonald's may want to buy the sites.
Moves to update the Little Chef image have proved difficult.
But one insider said the restaurants' main clientele were "the elderly, the young and people who want to use the lavatories".
And although John Major has long been associated with the group, journalist Janet Street-Porter once wrote: "When I die I'm going to throw a party for all my enemies in a branch of Little Chef."
The Sunday Times 27/02/05 page 3
