FILE PHOTO: Tyson Foods brand frozen chicken wings are pictured in a grocery store freezer in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S. May 11, 2017. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri/File Photo

(Reuters) - Tyson Foods Inc said it was putting on hold plans to build a chicken production plant in Kansas following opposition from local residents and the No. 1 U.S. meat processor said it would build a new $300 million facility in Tennessee.

The company will continue to consider potential sites in Kansas for additional expansion of its poultry business, spokesman Worth Sparkman told Reuters in an email on Monday.

The proposed $320 million plant in Tonganoxie, Kansas was expected to create about 1,600 jobs.

Tyson has been looking to build a new slaughterhouse as demand for chicken continues to boom and Chief Executive Tom Hayes had said in November the company was considering new sites for the project.

Tyson said the plant in Gibson County, Tennessee would create more than 1,500 local jobs once it begins operations in late 2019.