If you happened to be wandering through Helsby this afternoon (Wednesday, July 27) and thought you had spotted football superstar Wayne Rooney, your eyes were not deceiving you.
The Manchester United and England captain was in the village to enjoy a meal at the Hornsmill and took to Twitter to wax lyrical about the virtues of the venue.
He said: "Had a fantastic time at Hornsmill Helsby. Great food and very well looked after. Thanks and see you soon."
The Hornsmill is in Chester Road at the entrance to the village and is managed by Chris Speight.
Its website describes it as: "A modern looking pub with a cosy, warm and welcoming atmosphere." The pub scores four and a half out of five on TripAdvisor based on 816 positive reviews.
The site was known for many years as The Helsby Arms but was acquired by Hydes in 2014 and converted into a food-led venue which reopened under the name of Hornsmill in December of that year.
Rooney may not be known as a regular in Helsby but he is certainly a familiar face at Chester Racecourse where he has attended many race meetings in recent years with his Manchester United team-mates and his wife Coleen.
And in January 2015, the superstar was spotted at the Blue Planet Aquarium in Ellesmere Port taking his sons Klay and Kai for a visit to the tourist attraction.
More recently in October last year, wife Coleen went along to the Ice Cream Farm in Tattenhall with son Klay to enjoy the benefits of the farm's £4.5m redevelopment.
