THE north west has once again been snubbed as McDonald's released the latest list of restaurants that would be reopening their Drive-Thru lanes today.

But there is a specific reason why.

The fast food giant announced Drive-Thru lanes will be opening at 39 locations in the south of England and Republic of Ireland.

It comes one week after McDonald's opened 15 of its restaurants in the South East of England for delivery only through Uber Eats.

But while you might be jealous now that other areas have their Maccies back, there have been a number of reports of hundreds of cars queuing for food and police have had to be called to some restaurants.

The sites opened from 11am on Wednesday and are offering a limited menu with orders capped at £25 per car, the fast-food chain said.

Contactless payment is also being encouraged.

McDonald's says the reasoning behind selecting the 39 stores is because they are all close to one of the company's distribution centres.

A McDonald's spokesperson said: "Today we are reopening 39 Drive-Thru lanes at restaurants across the South East of England and in Dublin as we continue to test our plans for reopening.

"Our teams are still adjusting to the new procedures we've introcuced to enable safe working and social distancing, so things might take a little longer.

"We expect a high demand across all locations.

"We are working closely with local authorities and we may determine that it is necessary to close our Drive-Thru lanes if queues cause disruption or put our employees or customers at risk."

What measures will be introduced to keep staff safe?

Staff will be temperature checked before each shift and the number of workers on each site will be reduced to ensure social distancing.

Perspex screens are installed at all Drive-Thru windows and staff will be given protective equipment.

When are other restaurants expected to open?

McDonald's is planning to open Drive-Thrus at all its stores across the UK and the Republic of Ireland by early June.

The McDonald's spokespeson said: "Thank you for your continued patience as we slowly but safely reopen our restaurants."

A full list of stores reopening their Drive-Thrus and/or for McDelivery is as follows:

Drive-Thru Only:

  • Ipswich - Ranelagh Road
  • Ipswich - Ravenswood
  • Ipswich - Whitehouse
  • Chelmsford - Regiment Business Park
  • Hounslow - Traveller's Friend 
  • Sutton - Oldfield's Row
  • North Cheam - Worcester Park
  • Strood - Commercial Road
  • Rochester - Medway Valley Leisure Park
  • Herfordshire - Bushey
  • Staines - Two Rivers Retail Park
  • Staines - London Road
  • Peterborough - Bourges Boulevard
  • Peterborough - Boongate
  • Peterborough - Hampton
  • Peterborough - Morrisons, Lincoln Road
  • Peterborough - Eye Green
  • Peterborough - Glinton
  • Rochester - Medway City Estate
  • Bobbing - Sheppey Way
  • Dunstable - Luton Road
  • Luton Retail Park - Gipsy Lane
  • Watford - Garston

Drive-Thru Only in Republic of Ireland (all Dublin):

  • Nutgrove
  • Kylemore Road
  • East Wall
  • Artaine
  • Malahide Road
  • Tallaght

McDelivery And Drive-Thru:

  • Chelmsford Riverside
  • Chelmsford Westway
  • Ipswich - Cardinal Park
  • Boreham Interchange
  • Luton - Leagrave
  • Luton - Chaul End Lane
  • Watford - Hertfordshire Arms
  • Beechings Way
  • Sittingbourne
  • Gillingham - Bowaters

McDelivery Only:

  • Tooting
  • Dalston
  • Welling
  • Harrow
  • Luton - George Street