Burger King and M&S cafés latest to reopen

Burger King and M&S are the latest brands to reopen sites for delivery or takeaway only.

Burger King is reopening 27 of its sites at Moto service stations for takeaway service only. Eight sites opened today, initially just for HGV drivers, and a further 17 restaurants are planned to open to all customers on 21 May.

Meanwhile, 49 M&S cafes across the UK also reopened today, following a trial of social distancing and hygiene measures in five venues.

McDonald's, Pret, Costa Coffee, Starbucks and KFC have also been reopening further sites in recent weeks.

Prime minister Boris Johnson told cafés, restaurants and pubs to close in March, adding that they could continue to offer takeaway and delivery services, but many still closed over health and safety concerns.

Last week, environment secretary George Eustice said drive-through food businesses are "made for" social distancing and that, while he understood there were a number of reasons why such businesses chose to close their outlets, the government was "quite explicit that it [the lockdown] didn't cover takeaway food… we were quite keen to keep that capacity."

He added: "It is quite possible for these venues to reopen and reopen safely. We never mandated that they should close."

Photo: Shutterstock

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