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Hordes of hungry vegans have descended on an east London pop-up to try what was billed as the world’s first meat free "fried chicken" shop.

Temple of Seitan opened the store in Morning Lane on Saturday - right next door to the Hackney Meat Centre, a Halal butchers.

Photos showed scores of vegans queuing down the road in the rain to sample the goods.

The Temple of Hackney outlet was announced late last year, with the "chicken" being made from seitan instead of meat.

Seitan is a wheat-gluten meat substitute and is being served up in fried chicken-style tubs and wraps by the staff.

Ashley Norris tweeted on Sunday: “Still massive queues at opening weekend of in spite of rain @templeofseitan in Hackney. Fantastic."

Ayelle wrote: "Just had vegan fried chicken from @templeofseitan and it's the best thing about 2017 so far."

And Charlie Phillips wrote: "The amazing @templeofseitan is open now and it's worth queuing in the rain for today. Take an umbrella."

"That was mint," said Mick Tickner. "Wonderful grub and all your staff were lovely despite there being 1million people desperate for your snacks."

In a Facebook post on Sunday, the venue thanked customers who had queued so patiently.

They wrote: "Yesterday was unbelievable.

"There aren't any words to describe how grateful we are to everyone who came out! It was certainly a busy one but we got there in the end.

"Today we will be open until 8pm for all your fried chick'n needs."