KFC chicken shortage: Full list of restaurants OPEN as Colonel is hit by 'great 2018 chicken drought' across UK

UPDATED: Full list of London branches that remain open KFC out of chicken: Latest news, updates and memes

Hundreds of KFC restaurants across London and the UK were expected to remain closed today after the fast food giant revealed many of its branches ran out of chicken.

Fried chicken lovers were left disappointed after many of the chain’s restaurants were force to shut their doors due to ongoing “operational issues” with the company’s new distribution system.

There appeared to be more stores open on Wednesday than there were the previous day. Many of the restaurants that were open offered limited menus or had their hours cut.

Hundreds of KFC stores were closed because of a shortage of chicken (Yui Mok/PA )
Yui Mok/PA

Closures have been reported across London with many fast food fans taking to Twitter to vent their outrage after discovering teir local store was affected by the massive outage.

Chicken fans lamented the shortage online with one person calling it "the great 2018 chicken drought."

Until last Tuesday the company’s chicken was delivered to its UK stores by South African-owned distribution group Bidvest. The firm said the recent change of contract caused “teething problems”, which led to the widespread chicken shortage.

The fast food giant has about 900 restaurants in Britain, with more than 80 per cent of them run as franchises. As well as in London and the South East, closures have been reported in areas including the Midlands, East Anglia, the North East and Wales.

In a statement posted on its customer services Twitter feed KFC apologised for the outage and said its teams across the UK are “working flat out” to get service back up and running.

Chicken shortage: KFC said stores were starting to reopen but that the problem may last all week
Gareth Fuller/PA

It said: "We've brought a new delivery partner onboard, but they've had a couple of teething problems - getting fresh chicken out to 900 restaurants across the country is pretty complex!" it added, apologising to customers for the inconvenience.

"We won't compromise on quality, so no deliveries has meant some of our restaurants are closed, and others are operating a limited menu or shortened hours."

London stores that are now open despite chicken shortages

 

Holloway Road, Archway; Camden High Street, Camden; Chiswick High Road, Chiswick; Colosseum Retail Park, Enfield; Garratt Lane, Earlsfield; Evelyn Street, Deptford; Fore Street, Edmonton; Seven Sisters Road, Finsbury Park; Lea Bridge Road, Leyton; Leyton Mills Retails Park

Leyton; Haverstock Hill, Hampstead; Notting Hill Gate; Walworth Road; Streatham High Road, Streatham; Elephant and Castle; High Street, Barnet; High Street, Feltham; High Street, Lewisham; Stoke Newington High Street, Stoke Newington; High Street, Ruislip; High Road, Leyton

High Street, Harlesden; Bath Road, Cranford, Heathrow; Victoria Place, Victoria Station; Eleanor Cross Road, Waltham Cross; Baker Street; Mile End Road, Bow; Camden High Street, Camden Town; Finchley Road, Finchley

Watford Way, Hendon; George Lane, South Woodford; Station Road, Edgware; Alexandra Avenue, Rayners Lane; Ballards Lane, Finchley; Northway Circus; Golders Green; High Road, Leytonstone

Chaseside, Southgate; King Street, Twickenham; High Road, Harrow Weald; Kings Street, Hammersmith; Westfield Stratford City; Gloucester Road, South Kensington; London Road, Thornton Heath; Southside Shopping Centre, Wandsworth

Chicken lovers across the UK were left distraught earlier this week, with Sommer Thomas writing on Twitter: "What the cluck do you think [you're] playing at closing near enough every branch in Bristol because you ran out of chicken.

"It's basically the end of the world!"

Ron Sanderson posted: "Disaster. Took the grandkids out to dinner at KFC only to see that it's shut down. Some chicken shortage. Took them to McDonald's but it's not the same. Crying in the bathroom. Can't show weakness in front of them. KFCCrisis"

Daniel Watts wrote: "It's crazy to think in 50 years that we will be able to turn round to our grandchildren and say I remember the kfc chicken crisis of 18", while another chicken lover added: "Do u know what I would eat? chips done in the kfc batter. kentucky fried chips."

And @noodle3097 wrote: "Any reason the Bradford Greengates store is closed? Just had to drive another 20 minutes to not break a promise to a child."

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