THERE must have been something in the secret sauce of their famous burgers at McDonalds.

For after the literary success of two former staff members at the Bridge Street branch a third is now following in their footsteps.

Peter Lynas has spent the past four years writing on his first children’s book, and now the 40-year-old’s work is set to get published.

Peter said: “Writing randomly came out of the blue. I loved reading at school but something inside me sparked when I had my kids.

“I was getting angry with reading children's books. I was thinking ‘I could do better than that’.”

Now living in Lancashire, Peter previously worked at the McDonalds where he became friends with Conrad Jones and Simon Gould who are now both published authors.

He said: “I’m still friends with them and they were very supportive along the way, helping me get the story published.

“I loved working at McDonalds. It was my first job and I had a good time. It was never as bad as people said it was.”

Inspired by his children, Madeleine Goes to the Moon is a short story aimed at children aged seven to 10.

Loosely based on his six-year-old daughter Zoe Madeleine, the lead character uses her imagination to transform her bedroom into a trip to the moon.

“Once you start, you can’t stop,” added Peter. “I was in my daughter’s bedroom and this story arrived in my head. I particularly enjoyed the challenge of the rhyming as I’d toil for three or four weeks getting the words right.”

Peter now works as a quality manager at an IT company and has a more than a dozen books lined up including a second Madeleine story.

He hopes one day to become a full time writer.

Madeleine Goes to the Moon will be released on September 27.