GORDON RAMSAY - RAMSAY BOOSTS SCALLOP SALES

The popularity of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has resulted in a surge in seafood sales, according to supermarkets.

As part of Channel 4's Big Food Fight season, Ramsay is to lead the country through a live cookalong, airing at 21:00 GMT tonight.

And when Ramsay's recipes for the three-course meal were published on the internet on January 9th, the inclusion of scallops on the menu has led to a boost for sales of the item.

The foul-mouthed chef is to cook pan-roasted scallops with a tomato and herb salsa, followed by a main course of steak and chips and chocolate mousse for dessert.

And according to Waitrose, sales of its frozen scallops have risen by 600 per cent in the last fortnight.

Talking to the Scotsman, frozen food buyer Sally Brooks said: "With the programme's producers encouraging customers to cook along from home, it certainly appears that people aren't taking any chances and are ensuring that their fridges and freezers are stocked up."

Ramsay said the sales increase was "great news".

"A lot of people are somewhat intimidated by [scallops] but they're very good for you," he added.

Morrisons has reported a huge increase in sales of sirloin steaks while Asda expects to ship record amounts of honeycomb chocolate ahead of Ramsay's live preparation of the three-course meal for four.