Police called to UK McDonald's outlet to control crowd

Police were called to a drive-thru McDonald's in the UK on Thursday, the first day it reopened after easing of the COVID-19 lockdown because the queue at the outlet went out of hand, a media report said.

Six of the 30 new drive-thrus that have opened across the country are in Peterborough, with huge queues for one branch in particular forming as people raced to get their fix of Big Macs, Happy Meals and McNuggets, reports the Metro newspaper.

Officers were called out to the Boongate branch after it opened to customers at 11 a.m., as dozens of cars snaked their way around the restaurant's car park and surrounding roads.

A Cambridgeshire police spokesman said: "Officers attended the McDonald's in Padholme Road East this afternoon to assist with the flow of traffic in the area.

"The road was not closed and officers assisted while McDonald's staff reassessed their drive-thru policy to deal with demand."

McDonald's has only reopened sites in south-east England and in Dublin as a trial, causing outrage among customers in major cities including Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester who feel they were being left out, the newspaper report said.

McDonald's now has 38 restaurants open across the country in total, with 10 offering both delivery and drive-through.

Twenty-three others are drive-through only, while five are only available through online orders.

The fast-food giant has brought in social distancing measures to keep workers safe, with staff receiving temperature checks before each shift.

The number of workers on each site will be reduced to ensure safety, the company has said.