McDonald’s will reopen 40 drive-thrus next week across the UK and Ireland with all 900 open by early June

MCDONALD'S is to reopen 40 drive-thrus on Wednesday across the nation - with all 900 open by early June.

Fast food fans will be able to order their favourite eats at selected branches from May 20.

It comes as McDonald's is to reopen 15 of its restaurants in the South tomorrow for delivery only.

McDonald's is opening a few - for delivery and then drive-thru next week -  to test how to do so safely.

They want to ensure in the trials that staff, delivery drivers and customers in cars are not at risk of catching coronavirus.

McDonald's will also cap spend at £25 for each McDelivery order and each drive-thru car to avoid big orders that would cause delays, and will “encourage” contactless payment.

Bosses are initially focused on delivery and drive-thru lanes, which can be done more safely than customers coming into branches.

The drive-thru trial - phase two - is to be in the south of England and Ireland.

There were complaints last week that the 15 for delivery were mostly in and around London.

But McDonald’s said for trials it needs to have them near one distribution centre to more easily monitor them.

It will then decide whether to focus on rolling out delivery or drive-thrus - or both more slowly - as part of phase three and four of its reopening plans.

The fast food giant’s bosses think that having a few restaurants open in a town will make it easier to manage demand - and keeping customers happy.

McDonald’s has already announced the reopening of 15 restaurants tomorrow, May 13, for delivery orders only.

From these branches, customers can only order food from Uber Eats.

You won’t be able to click and collect using the My McDonald’s app and dining areas will remain closed to the public.

A limited menu is also in place at all reopened restaurants - see the full list of what’s included below.

Branches will be open 11am until 10pm, which means no breakfast options for the foreseeable.

McDonald's will be releasing a full list of drive-thru locations next week.

In the meantime, the fast food chain told The Sun that ten of the 40 branches are from the 15 who will be offering delivery.

This means there will be 45 restaurants reopened for either drive-thru, delivery, or both, by next Wednesday.

This includes five doing just delivery, 30 new ones just for drive-thru and ten offering both services.

The drive-thru announcement comes after Environment Secretary George Eustice said the fast food chain was “made” for social distancing.

McDonald’s restaurants were never specifically told to close, he said during a daily coronavirus update over the weekend.

In a separate update, Prime Minister Boris Johnson changed the coronavirus UK message from "stay at home" to "stay alert".

Crucially for drive-thru chains, he said Brits will be able to take trips in their cars from this Wednesday, May 15.

McDonald’s UK boss Paul Pomroy said: “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.

“We expect there will be some queues for some of our busier sites and our restaurants will look different.

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

He continued: “Learning from our initial phases,  we will start to return to towns and cities across the UK and Ireland and thank you for your continued support as we work through this crisis.

“We will continue to keep you updated via email, our website and our social media channels.”

McDonald's temporarily shut all 1,350 restaurants on March 23.

Maccies has already announced a new set of measures to keep staff and customers safe when branches reopen.

For example, workers are being given face masks and gloves and there will be perspex screens in kitchen areas to help maintain social distancing.

Staff will also have their temperatures checked before each shift to make sure they're fit to work.

Customers will be asked to pay for their food with card and contactless payments where possible.

Before closing, all chains had shut off seating areas and children’s soft play zones in a bid to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

Fast food chains across the UK have all started serving customers again following the COVID-19 shutdown.

Burger King today announced 70 more branches would reopen for delivery and drive-thru.

Five Guys has also now reopened 47 branches in the UK, and has KFC has reopened around 100 restaurants.

Subway said today that 600 of its restaurants have reopened.