McDonald's shares exact date every drive-thru in UK and Ireland will reopen

The country's biggest fast-food chain is set to reopen all of its drive-thrus next week as high streets get back to business following two months of lockdown, Mirror Money can reveal.

McDonald's said 975 more outlets will reopen to the public, providing customers are able to keep in line with social distancing and safety guidelines.

This will include 924 drive-thru restaurants and 75 restaurants that offer McDelivery via either Uber Eats or Just Eat.

It comes after police were called to dozens of restaurants last week, as thousands flocked to branches across the south-east to help curb their lockdown cravings.

In a statement today, McDonald's said 975 branches, all drive-thrus, will reopen between June 2 and June 4 - including hundreds of branches in major cities up north. This will take the total to 1,019.

"We can today announce that by 4 June, 1,020 of our restaurants will have reopened, either for drive-thru or McDelivery," a statement said.

"This means every Drive Thru in the UK and Ireland will reopen between Tuesday and Thursday next week and we will start to expand the availability of McDelivery too

"This is only possible following the hard work of the teams in our 44 pilot restaurants.

"Over the last fortnight, our employees, franchisees and suppliers have worked tirelessly to implement new procedures to enable safe working so that we can now help all parts of the UK and Ireland to enjoy the return of the Big Mac.

"In the last week, 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."

To manage anticipated demand, McDonald's said it will be releasing the locations of the reopening restaurants on the morning of each day.

It follows dozens of reopenings in the UK and Ireland a week ago, when the chain was accused of "forgetting" fans outside Greater London.

The fast-food giant said from June 4, stores will start reopening at 11am in line with government guidelines and with strict social distancing measures in place.

Just one order will be allowed per car and purchases will be capped at £25.

In car parks, dividers will be in place, while security teams will patrol zones to ensure visitors comply with safety laws.

In stores, perspex screens have been fitted while all employees will have to carry out temperature checks on arrival.

There will also be a restricted menu - with breakfast scrapped for the foreseeable future due to limited staff numbers.

McDonald's chief executive, Paul Pomroy previously warned that stores "will be different" when they re-emerge from lockdown.

"When your local drive-thru does reopen, it will be different. Our service will not be as quick as you might be used to, as we adjust to smaller teams and social distancing in our kitchens," he said.

"We expect there will be some queues for some of our busier sites and our restaurants will look different, with Perspex screens at our drive-thru windows and employees wearing protective equipment.

"I ask that you continue to be supportive of and patient with our restaurant teams as we slowly and safely return.

"We are asking all of our employees to adapt to how our restaurants now work, and will only reopen at a pace that enables them to work safely."

In the past fortnight, Burger King, Subway, Starbucks and more have reopened their doors to the public for takeaways only.

KFC now has around 100 outlets open for delivery only.

The UK’s largest fast food chicken chain is offering a limited menu in locations including London, Hampshire, Birmingham, Glasgow, Sussex, Greater Manchester and Staffordshire.

Elsewhere, bakery chain Greggs this week delighted fans with plans to reopen 800 branches in June.

It U-turned on initial talks to reopen 20 of its 2,050-plus locations on May 4, over fears that crowds could gather outside.

We've got a full guide on all of the restaurants that are now open for takeaways here .

What is on the '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
• Core McFlurry (Oreo, Maltesers, Smarties)
• Fruit Bag

Drinks:

• Coke
• Diet Coke
• Coke Zero
• Fanta
• Sprite
• Oasis
• Black Coffee
• White Coffee
• Latte
• Cappuccino
• Espresso
• Flat White
• Tea
• Orange Juice
• Fruit Shoot
• Water
• Happy Meal Water

Happy Meal Variants:

• Happy Meal - Hamburger
• Happy Meal - Cheeseburger
• Happy Meal - 4 Nuggets