Here's what it's like ordering at the reopened McDonald's drive-throughs

The fast food chain decided to close all 1,350 of its branches across the UK at the start of the national lockdown on Monday, March 23, but it has now reopened drive-throughs across the country.

McDonald’s has reopened 497 of its drive-throughs and 43 McDelivery sites, including four restaurants across Portsmouth.

Hungry fans caused heavy congestion around the Fratton branch after its 11am reopening, with slow-moving traffic reported along Goldsmith Avenue throughout the day.

Meanwhile in Fareham, traffic queuing for the McDonald’s in Newgate Lane led to police advising residents to avoid the area.

Travelling to the Ocean Retail Park branch, in Burrfields Road, I found at least four staff members from the restaurant directing the heavy traffic that was building up around the drive-thru.

After joining a queue more than 15 cars long, a staff member – wearing a mask and gloves – began to hand flyers to waiting motorists, explaining how the restaurant has radically changed in response to the coronavirus crisis.

A reduced menu is on offer – wraps and milkshakes are unavailable – and orders are limited to one per car, with a maximum spend of £25.

It took 25 minutes of waiting in traffic, travelling less than 50 metres in that time, to reach the drive-through order point, after which I received my food in less than four minutes.

In a post on social media, the company asked for customers to ‘bear with’ staff as they deal with high demand and social distancing.

The post said: ‘In order to allow for social distancing, we will have fewer employees in our kitchen and service areas.

‘We are delighted to be returning to communities across the UK and Ireland, but it will look different and take a little longer. Please bear with us.’

Drive-throughs have also reopened in Gosport, Waterlooville, and Havant.

McDonalds plans to be serving from all 924 of its drive-throughs across the UK and the Republic of Ireland tomorrow.