Hungry KFC lovers warned to stop calling police over outlets being closed

Police in London have taken to Twitter to plea with the public to stop bothering them about KFC being closed.

The fast food chain made the drastic move to close more than half of its 900 outlets in the UK after delivery problems led to a chicken shortage.

The situation has been the talk of chicken-lovers across social media this week, but it would appear some people feel it is a police matter.

In a tweet, Tower Hamlets Metropolitan Police Service in London, made a light-hearted attempt to instruct hungry members of the public to refrain from wasting officers' time.

"Please do not contact us about the #KFCCrisis - it is not a police matter if your favourite eatery is not serving the menu that you desire," it tweeted.

Meanwhile, KFC said it expects disruption to some restaurants to continue for the rest of the week after a new delivery contract with DHL sparked chicken shortages across the country.

More than 500 of the chain's nearly 900 stores are still closed, while many of those that are open are offering limited menus or have cut their hours.

A KFC spokesman the restaurant anticipated "the number of closures will reduce today and over the coming days as our teams work flat out all hours to clear the backlog".

"Each day more deliveries are being made; however, we expect the disruption to some restaurants to continue over the remainder of the week, meaning some will be closed and others operating with a reduced menu or shortened hours," he said.

Customers have taken to social media to voice their despair, with Ron Sanderson posting: "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 added: "Do u know what I would eat? chips done in the kfc batter. kentucky fried chips."

KFC said staff on short-term contacts working in restaurants owned by the chain would be paid the average hours worked per day over the past 12 weeks, while those on salaries would be paid as normal.

However, 80 per cent of KFC outlets are run on a franchise basis.

"Franchisees will be seeking their own independent advice, but we're encouraging them to adopt this policy too," KFC said.

The closures were the result of delayed chicken deliveries by DHL, which announced in November that it had been appointed alongside QSL to manage the supply and distribution of food products and packaging for more than 850 KFC restaurants throughout the UK.

"Due to operational issues a number of deliveries in recent days have been incomplete or delayed," DHL said in a statement.

"We are working with KFC and our partners to rectify the situation as a priority and apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused."

KFC was previously a client of Bidvest Logistics.

The chicken chain detailed the problems in an earlier statement, which said: "We've brought a new delivery partner on board, but they've had a couple of teething problems - getting fresh chicken out to 900 restaurants across the country is pretty complex!"

"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," the company added.

"We know that this might have inconvenienced some of you over the last few days, and disappointed you when you wanted your fried chicken fix - we're really sorry about that."