KFC's chicken crisis hits Halifax

Customers arriving at the George Street and Haley Hill stores will be disappointed to find closed doors with signs advising them of their sudden closure.

The news comes as KFC announced it had been forced to close a raft of stores after a new delivery contract with DHL resulted in chicken shortages across the country.

The company said that of the outlets that are still open, many are offering a limited menu or had cut their hours.

It has of yet given no notice of when operations would be back to normal.

"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!" KFC said in a statement.

"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.

The sign advising customers of KFC's closure on George Street, Halifax.

“We’ve set up a page on our website – www.kfc.co.uk/crossed-the-road – so our fans can check where their nearest open restaurant is, and we’re updating this as regularly as we can.

Our teams are working flat out all hours to get the rest back up and running as soon as possible – but it’s too early to say how long it will take to clear the backlog.”"

KFC was previously a client of Bidvest Logistics but has since swapped contract to enlist DHL for food deliveries.

The chicken chain gave a "shout out" to its restaurant teams, who the company said were "working flat out to get us back up and running again".

The KFC outlet on George Street, Halifax.

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

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

DHL 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.

It said DHL would manage the physical warehouse and distribution service, with KFC adding it had specifically chosen the pair for their reputation of "innovation in logistics" across other industries.