McDonald's reopens for delivery

McDonald's reopens for delivery - see which restaurants you can order from

From 11am today, McDonald's is back on the menu with the chain reopening 15 branches for delivery only.

It's phase one of the burger joint's plan to get up and running after being forced to close to protect the health and safety of staff and customers.

In a message to customers, McDonald's chief executive Paul Pomroy wrote: "Eight weeks ago, we took the decision to close our entire restaurant estate, an unprecedented decision taken in the best interests of our employees and customers.

"Over the last two months we have worked tirelessly to overhaul our operational procedures to enable our teams to return to work safely and I am pleased to write to you the day before we begin testing our return to the UK and Ireland.

"Restaurants will be 'different' as the nation adapts to a 'new normal'."

Restaurants will be closed to customers while social distancing measures are in place (PA Archive/PA Images)

The biggest change is that outlets are only available for orders through Uber Eats - while the menu is also limited.

Then there's a new £25 limit on how much food you can order in one go, hours have been cut and there are new safety measures in branches.

These include the use of contactless thermometers to check temperatures when staff arrive, perspex screens in key locations, protective equipment for staff and extra handwashing and sanitising of touch points around the restaurant.

Sadly no breakfast items are available at the moment (Getty Images)

The good news for people not living near one of the first 15 restaurants to reopen today, is that 30 more will be up and running next week.

From 20 May the next phase in reopening will see drive throughs available again - although McDonald's hasn't yet revealed where these will be.

But even if one's not near you at first, you won't have long to wait for your Big Mac fix, with every single drive through location set to be open again by early June.

To check, you need to head to the restaurant locator on the McDonald's wesite.