ENGINES, check. FUEL, check. POPPADOMS, check. The hottest takeaway in town is set for take-off with an incredible new service - the flying curry.

Starting next month, biryanis, baltis and bhunas cooked in the area will be bombed all over the county as a new Flying Indian Restaurant allows punters to tuck into a curry among the clouds.

And the Citizen can exclusively reveal that the food for this incredible new service will be cooked at the Ashiana Restaurant on Fleetwood Road every Sunday, before being rushed by chopperdom helicopter to a plane waiting on the tarmac at Liverpool's airport.

The whole thing is the brainchild of pilot Mustafa Aolad who already operates one flying restaurant and an incredible dial-a-curry flying delivery service to the stars from Bournemouth.

He told the Citizen: "For £60 we will take people up in the plane, fly them over the Lancashire countryside at about 1,500 ft and then take them up to 17,000 ft before serving an excellent three-course Indian meal complete with champagne.

"This has been a great success down south so there is no reason why we can't do the same up here."

So why choose the Ashiana to cook the food? According to Mustafa, it's the best Bangladeshi food in the county and he's proved that by having the food secretly tested by bogus customers over the past few weeks.

Manik Miah, who runs the restaurant, said: "This was a real surprise to me and I think it is an amazing service.

"Mr Aolad said he chose us because we are the best and they found out about us through our reputation which is nice to hear. It is also very good publicity for us."

Mustafa Aolad, formerly a pilot in the Bangladesh Air Force, is fast gaining a reputation among the rich and famous for his airborne curry delivery service.

Since getting it off the ground in 1992 he has taken curries from his South Coast base to Australia, Los Angeles and New York. Stars like Cliff Richard, Little and Large and even John Major have tucked into Mustafa's massalas.

If you want to book a place on Mustafa's flying Sunday restaurant call Mick O'Brien at Emerald Airlines on (0151) 448 0844.

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