Not lovin' it! Northerners slam McDonald's over news that first 15 restaurants to reopen for delivery next week are ALL in southern England – while cars queuing for KFC cause a traffic jam as it resumes drive-thru at 55 branches

Northerners have slammed McDonald's after the fast-food giant revealed the 15 branches to reopen next week will all be in the south of England.   

Restaurants preparing to offer a delivery-only service from 11am on May 13 are mainly in London and the surrounding counties - with three in Luton and another three in Chelmsford, provoking anger on social media. 

Twitter users were quick to react to the news with Northerners, in particular, expressing outrage over the locations chosen by the company.

The news comes as huge queues of cars formed at KFC restaurants up and down the country after it resumed drive-thru services at dozens of branches today. 

One drive-thru in Swansea saw queues of cars '60 to 70 deep' , causing major traffic problems. 

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The selected restaurants will reopen for McDelivery only from 11am on Wednesday 13th May

Massive line outside Basingstoke KFC as it reopens after six weeks

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Pictured: massive queues forming for KFC, on Morfa Shopping Park, in Swansea, where one witness said people stayed for up to five hours

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Pictured: traffic for KFC, on Morfa Shopping Park, in Swansea spilling out on to Brunel Way

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Pictured: traffic for KFC, on Morfa Shopping Park, in Swansea today. One witness saw queues of cars '60 to 70 deep', causing major traffic problems

KFC has already reopened 100 of its restaurants for delivery only, before today announcing it was reopening drive-thru lanes at 55 restaurants.

Chicken fans flocked to branches across the UK, especially at Morfa Shopping Park, in Swansea, where customers queued for up to five hours to place an order, severely congesting a nearby dual carriageway and roundabout. 

One witness said people were getting out of their cars to walk around and not adhering to social distancing measures. 

People began arriving at the KFC around 11.30am for the 12 o'clock opening and were still queuing up after 3.30pm. 

The witness said the cars caused major traffic jams 'on either side' of Brunel Way, leading to the retail park.

'I did not witness any social distancing personally, many of the people who purchased a KFC meal were then pulling their cars up in the car park to eat the meals, many with windows down due to the warm weather,' they said. 

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Fries, Big Macs and cheeseburgers will be available to order but there will be no breakfast menu at the outset

Meanwhile McDonald's announcement triggered a fierce backlash on Twitter, with some users claiming the company 'hates the north'.

'So instead of spreading the stores throughout the UK you open only Southern stores with some multiple stores even in the same town? Senseless!' one user, @KelEll said. 

McDonald's tweeted back, 'Kelly, we are working hard to reopen more restaurants and will keep you updated here as we add more.' 

Kyle Thornton said, 'As usual the north is forgotten about.' While Kat Slyper questioned, 'Why are they all down south is there something wrong with the north and Scotland???'

Others expressed amazement that three restaurants would be open in Chelmsford within a short distance of one another. 

Northerners took to social media to express disappointment over the locations chosen by McDonald's

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Others expressed amazement that three restaurants would be open in Chelmsford within a short distance of one another

As announced last week, the McDonald's restaurants will be opening from 11am-10pm and will have a limited menu on offer.  Customers will be able to order a range of favourites like cheesburgers, chicken nuggets and Big Macs. Vegetarian options will also be available including veggie dippers.

McDonald's are introducing a range of security measures including: 

·Perspex screens and floor markings will be introduced in specific areas 

·Additional protective equipment including non-medical grade face masks 

·All employees will be asked to confirm they are fit and able to work, and  contactless thermometers will be used to take temperatures on arrival at work for every shift

· Social distancing measures will be introduced for delivery and service partners.

McDonald's will temporarily not be serving breakfast. The company said it will explore ways in which to help their employees safely change over menus and will reintroduce their breakfast menu as soon as possible. 

Food will be delivered with the company's partners, Uber Eats and Just Eat.

Paul Pomroy, McDonald's CEO UK and Ireland said:  'As part of our reopening planning, we have been listening to you and our employees, and we have worked closely with UK and Irish governments and trade bodies to help ensure we do this responsibly. We have deliberately taken our time, we want to get this right. 

'We have been running controlled tests to explore the safest way to reopen our restaurants. To give us all confidence in the new operational measures we are introducing to keep you and our employees safe, we asked our employees for their thoughts, have incorporated much of their feedback and will continue to listen and learn. The tests have proven successful.

'Rest assured, we are working hard to reopen more restaurants, but I am adamant this must be at the right pace with the wellbeing of our employees, suppliers and customers front of mind. Thank you for your patience,' Mr Pomroy added. 

McDonald's furloughed 135,000 staff when it shut up shop temporarily in March.

It's distributed over 400 tonnes of food to charities and food banks around the UK and Ireland since the coronavirus crisis began.

Under government rules, food firms are allowed to operate as takeaway and delivery outlets under lockdown.

Other companies which have moved to limited store reopenings or delivery-only services include Five Guys, Nando's, KFC and Burger King.

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Chicken McNuggets will be included on the new limited menu 

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Mororists were pictured queueing round the block at the first Burger King drive-through site to open in the UK in Havantat the end of April

Pret A Manger recently announced plans to partially reopen as pressure grows for an exit plan from the lockdown ravaging the economy.

Their shops will open near hospitals and GP surgeries for delivery and takeaway services only.

But the high street bakery Greggs has postponed reopening 20 stores next week over fears of overcrowding.

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The fried chicken chain said 100 of its stores up and down the country would be able to bring orders to customers' homes from May 4 

Greggs said last week it was set to reopen some of its branches in the Newcastle area to test if it could operate without breaking social distancing rules, but has now changed its mind. 

On Monday, motorists queued for hours to get a drink at Costa drive-thru's, sparking fears people are ignoring lockdown measures as more high street chains reopen.

Tailbacks stretched around the block at takeaway chains in Edinburgh, Wakefield and Glasgow as drivers waited to get their coffee fix.

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Drivers were seen queuing for a coffee at Costa Drive Thru, Cameron Toll, Edinburgh on Monday morning

At the weekend, eager customers queued for more than a mile to get a coffee at a branch in Snowhill Retail Park in Yorkshire as it reopened after more than a month on Saturday.

But it has led to a furious backlash from key workers, who claim people venturing out for takeaway food and drinks are ignoring warnings and pleas from the government and NHS staff to remain at home.