“Pompey’s turned out in force - for the humble jacket spud” That was the verdict of influencer ‘Spud Man’ who has spent a whirlwind two days in the city to show his support for two of our city’s businesses.

There were long queues at Spud Fusion in Fratton where the viral sensation Ben Newman spent the day, serving customers and supporting the business. It follows his visit to the Jacket Potato Lady Vicky Penford in the city centre yesterday (Wednesday, January 14).

He told The News he has had an “amazing” reception in the city - also paying a visit to Natty’s Jerk last night - with the Commercial Road-based Vicky overwhelmed by the support shown.

“The turn out was amazing and the people were lovely and you could not ask for more,” he said.

He added that a return visit could be on the cards as he has been too busy to explore the city. “I’m going to miss the place (and the) lovely people,” he added

First in the queue was Ryan Goddard, 17, who also supported the Jacket Potato Lady the day before and arrived at 7.30am to secure his place in the long queue with hardy customers braving the rain and waiting up to an hour to show their support.

Phil Turner from Turner’s Pies also popped down to Spud Fusion this morning and has been set a challenge by Spud Pie of making a chilli, cheese and beans jacket potato pie - of which he said to stay turned to his social media channels to see how he gets on.

The visit comes amid the ‘jacket potato war’, after Lancashire-based company SpudBros announced a new franchise will be opening in the city centre. This sparked fears it would impact on the local traders - and residents have been showing their support, including Spud Fusion’s Ruman Islam.

It comes after the Spud Fusion was forced to change its name from The Spud Father as a result of a trademark dispute with SpudBros.

However SpudBros has said the new franchisee Sunny Bassi is also from the city and will be a major boost to the area, with a recent local recruitment post attracting 1,154 applications in just 24 hours. It opens on January 27.

Mr Bassi said: “What Jacob and Harley have built with SpudBros in Preston really inspired me, and I reached out because I wanted to bring that same energy, pride and community spirit to Portsmouth.

“The franchise model empowers local people to build something meaningful in their own city, and from day one we’re focused on supporting the local economy, creating real opportunities for local workers, and working alongside other local businesses so everyone benefits. SpudBros has shown what’s possible when local people are backed properly, and we’re proud to be continuing that here in Portsmouth.”