Hooters, set up in 1983, was famous for its scantily clad waitresses and went by the slogan “delightfully tacky, yet unrefined”.

Along with a number of investors Brooks bought franchise rights to Hooters a year after the company was started, and then later bought control of the company himself.

The South Carolina businessman was never tight lipped about what made Hooters a success, saying: “Good food, cold beer and pretty girls never go out of style.”

According to a post mortem Brooks died of natural causes.