Coronavirus: Long queues as McDonald's reopens drive-thrus

Huge queues formed outside branches of McDonald's as the fast food giant reopened some of its UK drive-thrus.

French fry fans descended as the burger chain resumed service at 33 sites in England, mainly in the east and south-east, and six in Dublin.

A motorcyclist who captured dashcam footage of a line in Chelmsford, Essex, said he thought there had been a road closure.

The company said the trial sites were close to its distribution centres.

Its outlets were offering a limited menu via their take-out hatches, and orders were capped at £25 per vehicle.

Customers were warned service would "not be as quick as you might be used to" and asked visitors to be "patient and supportive" of staff.

A post on the company's UK Twitter account said it would close drive-thru lanes if queues became too long and caused disruption.

However, there were reports of hour-long queues outside branches in London, Essex and Watford.

The Peterborough Telegraph also reported that police were called to one branch in the city to "assist with the flow of traffic in the area".

There were long queues in Watford when its branch opened

Staff were given masks and serving windows were covered with plastic screens

Similar scenes were witnessed when McDonald's closed to customers on 23 March as the UK entered lockdown.

Upon reopening, the company said employees would have their temperatures checked and the number of workers on-site would be reduced to maintain social distancing.

Pictures show plastic screens covering serving windows, and staff wearing face masks as they serve customers.

She's lovin' it: Theresa Hyland grabbed a meal at one of six Dublin drive-thrus to reopen

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