It is a guilty treat to many and the unwavering option for those living life on the run.

But as of 7pm tonight, McDonald's stores across the country closed following concerns about the spread of Covid-19.

The fast-food favourite, with outlets at Brighton Hill and the Leisure Park, is set to close all of its stores 'indefinitely'. 

It seems dozens wanted to get their last supper from the golden arches.

A reporter at the scene described the volume of cars as "absolutely crazy".

As of 6.40pm, the reporter said: "It is total gridlock. There are people getting out of their cars." 

The news has panicked fast-food fans who braved lengthy queues to get a meal before the shutdown.

Nationally, McDonald's has seen a 21.7 per cent collapse in visits in seven days, according to figures by Springboard.

Last night the chain's chief executive Paul Pomroy said: "Over the last 24 hours, it has become clear that maintaining safe social distancing whilst operating busy takeaway and Drive Thru restaurants is increasingly difficult and therefore we have taken the decision to close every restaurant in the UK and Ireland by 7pm on Monday, March 23.

"We have not taken this decision lightly and know that our restaurants have been playing an important role in the community providing hundreds of thousands of free drinks to frontline health and social workers and emergency services personnel.

"But I have been clear throughout this that we would only continue to operate whilst it was safe for our people and together with our franchisees, we feel now is the time to make this decision to temporarily close.

"I want to thank every single one of our 135,000 employees. I am so proud of them all for adapting so quickly to a constantly evolving work environment, taking every step to keep our customers, couriers and teams safe and looking after each other so very well."