A town centre cafe which is popular for its homemade bakes and breakfasts has fooled customers by claiming it is rebranding into a chicken takeaway.

Clean Plate Kitchen on Silver Street specialises in cooked-to-order meal boxes, breakfasts and lunches while also baking brownies, cheesecakes and cakes.

But the cafe, which has high reviews on Tripadvisor, has remained closed for at least three weeks while it attends to several issues.

There is damage to the roof and electricity and it also has plastering, building works and redecorating to do.

In a post online, it said it plans on reopening on April 17 but admitted it is "already struggling to even break even" in the current cost-of-living crisis, with "spiralling food and utility costs and decreased football and spending".

"Please know, that closing is an absolute disaster for us and we are only closed because we absolutely cannot open", the cafe said.

However, in a follow-up post, cunningly posted on April fools, the cafe took the opportunity to jibe with its customers.

It said its reopening and rebranding is well underway and announced it will be opening as "Chicken Plate Kentucky", where it will serve "chicken, chicken and more chicken".

"We are hoping Joan Cartwright will branch out and provide us with fried chicken rag puddings too", referring to Joan's infamous pies over at the Old Mill House in Springhead, "and our full clucking English will be an Oldham first", it added.

The joke is seemingly in reference to the number of chicken takeaway establishments on adjacent Union Street and the surrounding area.

A food critic from Aylesbury even tasked himself with the challenge of trying and ranking six spicy chicken burgers from neighbouring takeaways in Oldham town centre, where he stopped off at Georgia Fried Chicken, Toronto Fried Chicken, Virginia Fried Chicken and Florida Fried Chicken.

However, not all customers of Clean Plate Kitchen were quick to get the joke with some wishing the restaurant well in its reopening.

"Good April fools", one woman commented while another said: "behave".

Another wrote: "For real? I just noticed the date."

"That's hilarious", commented another.