THE owners of renowned Fairford restaurant Allium are entrusting their business to two complete strangers for nine weeks.

James and Erica Graham have agreed to let their restaurant be used as part of a new BBC reality show called The Restaurant.

The show will see nine couples battling it out to prove who is the most capable of successfully running their own restaurant.

But, according to Erica, the contestants will find the going a bit tougher then they think.

She said: "It will be interesting to see how they get on. I'm sceptical that someone with no experience can come in and run a restaurant.

"We have worked 15 years in the trade before we opened our own place. There's no substitute for experience. However I could be proved wrong.

"You need lots of financial acumen as well. You can be extremely nice and your food can taste fantastic but that is the most important thing."

Camera crews will be following all nine couples 24 hours a day recording every decision, every mistake and every arguament.

Every week the three worst-performing restaurants will be set a specific task with the loser being voted off the show.

World-famous restauranteur Raymond Blanc, along with two inspectors, will be judging the competition and the overall winners will be given the chance to work with Raymond and run their own establishment.

Meanwhile James and Erica are looking forward to some time away from running a busy restaurant.

Erica added: "It's perfect timing really because I'm expecting a baby in a few weeks. It's the main reason we agreed to it so we can have some time off."

For the duration of the filming Allium will be trading under a different name but bookings can still be made on 01285 712200.