Hungry McDonald’s customers have been queuing for up to two hours today after it reopened 168 drive-thrus – with police being called out to manage traffic at some of its restaurants.
The fast-food giant is set to reopen nearly 1,000 restaurants for drive-thru and McDelivery customers over the next three days.
In a bid to try and stop the lengthy queues when drive thrus return, McDonald’s is announcing its chosen restaurants on the day they open – but an hour’s notice still gave customers plenty of time to queue today.
There were reports of customers waiting up to an hour and a half in Bolton, while one restaurant in Edinburgh has reportedly decided to temporarily close its drive-thru lanes, within hours of reopening, on police advice.
In Glasgow’s Robroyston branch, police were called out to manage traffic as dozens of drivers queued before the restaurant had even opened, according to the Glasgow Times.
Customers are ordering from a reduced menu, with a spending cap of £25, as McDonald’s cuts the number of staff working in its kitchens to maintain social distancing measures.
As queues build, staff have been out in car parks and drive thru lanes trying to direct traffic – with long waiting times being reported up and down the country.
Police officers have had to be called in to control two-hour-long lines of traffic attempting to get into McDonald’s drive thrus across the country that have opened for the first time since the lockdown began
Hungry Britons have formed huge queues outside McDonald’s drive-thrus that are snaking around car parks and onto roads across the country after the fast food chain opened a limited number of stores for the first time since the lockdown began in March
On the first day of the fast food chain reopening in Scotland today, around 100 cars were left queuing along the road next to the Partick branch of McDonald’s in Glasgow
After consulting with police, managers at McDonald’s in Newbridge, near Edinburgh, have decided to close the drive thru lane temporarily to traffic amid unprecedented demand today
A half-mile-long queue of car choked up a single carriageway outside of a Watford branch of McDonald’s
Nearly 200 McDonald’s drive thrus have reopened following the lockdown. Here, we display how many have opened in different UK towns
Two drive thru lanes are packed with cars at Livingston’s McDonald’s, which reopened at 11am with new social distancing measures in place
Over 70 cars are queuing for up to two hours this afternoon to get a McDonalds Drive Thru on the Middlebrook Retail Park in Bolton, Gtr Manchester, with the line snaking around the car park
Staff had to set up complex cone systems covering entire shopping centres car parks to help control the flows of traffic. Pictured: Scenes from Weston-super-Mare
The queue For McDonalds drive thru backs up into a Morrisons supermarket carpark in Wakefield this morning
Huge queues formed outside McDonald’s today, as customers waited for up to two hours. Pictured: Newly reopened drive thru in Wakefield
Cars are filling the car park of Gateshead’s McDonald’s restaurants as hungry customers head for a bite of fast food
Congelton customers in Cheshire have been queuing outside McDonald’s since it opened at 11am to get their fix
Chains in Gateshead and Livingston have already seen long queues, along with restaurants in Glasgow and Congleton.
In Edinburgh, managers at the Newbridge restaurant have decided to close their drive-thru due to unprecedented demand, after consulting with police.
There were reports of waits of up to an hour-and-a-half at the fast food giant’s branch in Astley Bridge, Bolton.
Staff in high-vis jackets could be seen directing drivers outside the restaurant as the queues snaked through the car park and on to nearby streets.
It was one of four McDonald’s branches in Bolton to open their drive-thrus at 11am – albeit with a limited menu.
Restaurants at Middlebrook Retail Park, Derby Street, and Chorley Old Road were are also reported to have seen lengthy queues after reopening for the first time since March.
Marshalls direct the queue of cars waiting to get their McDonald’s fix today in Astley Bridge, Bolton
Over 100 cars are queuing for up to two hours this afternoon to get a McDonalds Drive Thru on the Middlebrook Retail Park in Bolton, Gtr Manchester
Huge queues of traffic outside a McDonalds in Aberdeen as fans across the UK waited for up to two hours for a meal
Queues are building in and around the McDonald’s in Sudbury, Suffolk, with staff out trying to direct and advise drivers
Drive-thru customers returned to Bloomfield Shopping Mall in Bangor on Tuesday afternoon for the first time in more than two months
McDonald’s staff are outside trying to control traffic heading into Glasgow’s West End Retail Park McDonald’s drive thru as it reopened today
Long queues have already formed around a McDonald’s in Livingston as more than 160 drive thrus reopened earlier today
Diners in South Queensferry, Scotland, were waiting for as long as 90 minutes to buy fast food.
Staff have been spotted outside trying to manage the sudden influx of traffic after the full list of reopened franchises was announced this morning.
A McDonald’s spokesman said: ‘This week we will reopen drive-thrus across the UK and Ireland, starting with 168 locations from 11am today.
‘We will also see a further 22 restaurants open for McDelivery today.
Staff trying to keep the queues in order at McDonald’s in Sudbury, Suffolk which reopened today after the lockdown
People excited as they wait in the queue outside the McDonalds at Robroyston, Glasgow today
Drive thru lanes were packed in Dunstable as McDonald’s reopened at 11am on Tuesday, but customers can only order up to £25 worth of food at a time
Perspex glass has been installed between McDonald’s staff and drive-thru customers, including at the Livingston restaurant which reopened on Tuesday
Zoe Mellon and Hannah Thompson were among the customers to queue for a bite of McDonald’s in Bangor on Tuesday
‘We are glad to be back but it will look a little different and may take a little longer, so please bear with us.’
What will be included in McDonalds’ limited menu?
Main Menu:
Cheeseburger
Hamburger
Double Cheeseburger
Big Mac
Quarter Pounder with Cheese
McChicken Sandwich
Filet-O-Fish
Chicken McNuggets
Chicken Selects
Sides & Desserts:
Fries
Mozzarella Dippers
McFlurry (Oreo, Maltesers, Smarties)
Fruit Bag
What’s Out?
The entire breakfast menu has gone
No milkshakes or smoothies
No chicken wraps
There are no promotional items, such as the Big Tasty Range
No carrot stick bags, apple pies or muffins
Restaurants are reopening with protective screens between staff and customers. Workers are also expected to wash their hands every 30 minutes.
Protective screens have been put in place inside the kitchens and at drive-thrus to lower the risk of contamination.
For customers, the major changes are a reduced menu and a £25 spending cap, which has been introduced as staff get used to working in smaller teams and to reduce waiting times at drive-thru lanes.
Diners are also being asked to pay via contactless cards.
McDelivery drivers will have no direct contact with staff inside the restaurant and handwashing facilities have been set up to prevent any possible spread of Covid-19 germs.
Reduced hours mean there will be no breakfast offering, with restaurants only serving customers between 11am and 10pm.
Milkshakes are among the items missing from the menu, as well as fruit bags.
By Thursday all of McDonald’s drive-thrus will be open – meaning 1019 of its restaurants be serving customers in their cars or via McDelivery.
It is only announcing which stores have reopened on the day it happens.
A McDonald’s spokesman said: ‘On occasion, we have taken the decision to close drive thru lanes where demand has impacted local communities or the safety of our people or customers.
‘We will continue to work with local authorities and the police as we extend our reopening plans.
‘With smaller teams, we will still be offering a limited menu over reduced hours, and we ask that you make contactless payments and limit your spend to £25.
‘We are continuing to review these measures as we reopen, but for now, these restrictions remain in place to help our employees, customers and delivery partner couriers to remain safe.
‘To manage the anticipated demand, we will release the locations of the reopening restaurants on the morning of each day.’
In Essex, Southend-on-Sea council has put in place a parking ban on roads near it’s McDonald’s restaurant, to ease traffic ahead of its predicted reopening on Wednesday morning, according to Echo News.
Videos have already emerged of demand at some of the 44 pilot restaurants which trialled McDonald’s social distancing measures.
One member of the public filmed a seemingly endless stretch of traffic waiting to access the McDonalds A41 Watford restaurant, commenting: ‘How badly do they want a big mac. That’s a two hour wait for some nuggets.’
June is set to be a busy month for fast food chains reopening.
Burger King has plans to reopen 350 restaurants by the end of the month, while Greggs hopes to reopen 800 bakeries in the coming weeks.
KFC has announced 500 its restaurants are set to reopen, while Starbucks has been open for takeaways at 150 coffee shops in recent weeks.
Yesterday Pret a Manger reopened 204 restaurants – the vast majority of which are in London.
Information signs have been posted up at drive thrus around the country, including Bangor, advising customers about new social distancing rules at the fast food restaurant
Cleaning stations will be set up inside McDonald’s restaurants for visiting delivery drivers, who will have no contact with restaurant staff when they arrive to pick up orders
Workers will wear protective gear including gloves in their stores as they prepare food for contact-free delivery, and hand over bags to delivery drivers to take to customers