FRANKIE & Benny's at Fife Leisure Park could be under threat as the firm aims to slash its number of restaurants.

Parent company The Restaurant Group (TRG) also own Tex-Mex food chain Chiquito which may suffer the same fate in Dunfermline.

TRG made the announcement on Monday.

They plan on shutting an additional 42 restaurants – on top of the 72 other Frankie & Benny's closures that had previously been announced.

The company said there would be no immediate threat to jobs as underperforming sites would go as leases expired but would not confirm the length of time remaining on its leases at Fife Leisure Park.

A spokesperson said: “Our leisure business has benefitted from our initiatives to improve food offering, service standards and brand proposition.

“Nevertheless, the backdrop remains challenging and we continue to take a disciplined approach to our estate.

“We are making progress in negotiations with landlords when there are lease events, having obtained rent reductions in the most recent negotiations as well as greater flexibility in lease terms.

“The remaining estate has a median of six years to the first potential exit date (ie lease expiry or the date at which we can exercise a break clause).

“We expect to exit at least 50 per cent of leisure sites reaching their next exit date, and will continue to explore market opportunities to exit these sites earlier where possible.”

TRG revealed their intentions alongside financial results for the half-year to June 30, with the company posting a pre-tax loss of £88 million.