Mr Chicken celebrated the opening of its newest outlet in Southampton this morning with a Customer Appreciation Day.

David Furbert, the owner of Mr Chicken, said the move to the location was a dream almost 40 years in the making.

However, he said conflicts with the Department of Planning over a demand for charging stations for electric vehicles had threatened to turn that dream into a nightmare.

“I feel physically relieved,” he said. “This project has put me under extreme stress.

“I have always been healthy, never been sick, but getting near the end of this project I was physically ill.

“I told my daughter it felt like I was in a marathon and the finish line was right there and I didn’t know if I could finish, but through the grace of God I did.”

Mr Furbert said that he had opened Mr Chicken at Heron Bay almost 40 years ago, and in the second year of operation he saw the building across the street and decided that it was where he needed to be.

“That thought process had been out of my mind until about a week before MarketPlace called me and offered this place,” he said.

Mr Furbert said that the newest Mr Chicken welcomed its first customers two weeks ago, but he wanted to hold off on the opening celebration until his wife was on the island.

“I hope to continue to service the people in Southampton,” he said. “If you talk to people in Southampton, they will tell you that they came to Mr Chicken when they were kids.

“Now they are adults and their children come to Mr Chicken. There are a number of people in Southampton who consider Mr Chicken their own.”

Mr Furbert said that while he had enjoyed the process of opening his other restaurants, the move into the latest site felt like an uphill battle.

Earlier this year, the project made headlines when a dispute arose between Mr Furbert and the Department of Planning after the department refused to let him do any work until he made space for a charging port for electric vehicles.

Mr Furbert reduced the number of planned parking spaces at the restaurant to avoid the requirement, introduced in 2018, but he said he felt singled out.

“It is not necessary for people to have to go through this,” he said. “The project was held up for more than a year through no fault of ours.

“That legislation was enacted in 2018 and they never applied it to anyone. Why did they apply it to us?

“The building permit was given, and then shortly after that a phone call comes to us telling us we cannot commence. I had already set up all the contractors. I had to go to them and tell them to hold on.

“What are they going to do in those circumstances? They went on to other jobs, and we had to wait for them to finish that job. It all snowballed.”

Mr Furbert added: “I don’t know if I could do this again. Over the years I designed all five of our establishments and enjoyed it.

“This? I cannot do this again. If I do something similar, I will have to look for a project manager because I cannot do this again.”