British town about to get its EIGHTH McDonald's... with newest fast-food spot a mere nine-minute drive from another Maccies
One British town is about to get another McDonald's - taking its tally of the fast-foot restaurant up to a whopping eight.
The newest location means Bolton, a Greater Manchester town of nearly 300,000 people, will have multiple McDonald's all within a short distance of each other.
The fast-food chain has been granted permission to open a new restaurant on Cutacre Way - an employment park in an area off the busy A6 Salford Road.
McDonald's will join other eateries on the site including Greggs, Costa Coffee and a Pine Tree Farm carvery restaurant as well as an Aldi.
The new site is also extremely close to two of the seven other locations in Bolton.
It is an 11-minute drive from McDonald's on Manchester Road and just nine minutes away from another on Derby Street close to the town centre.
A design and access statement in support of the plans, seen by the Manchester Evening News, said: 'Vehicular access will be provided via a priority junction off Cutacre Way.
'Pedestrian access to the restaurant would be provided from Cutacre Way via Bridgewater Avenue.
An artist's impression of what the new McDonald's will look like in Bolton
Bolton town centre (file image). The new McDonald's means the town will have three stores all just a short drive from each other
'Two zebra crossing facilities through the car park will give priority to pedestrians.
'Thirty car parking spaces are proposed including three accessible bays and one EVCP bay.'
Describing the design of the building, the report said: 'The design concept for the proposal centres on the delivery of a high-quality development that supports local demand for a McDonald's restaurant.
'It has been designed with an attractive modern aesthetic which reflects the character of the retail and commercial uses in the wider area.'
Bolton Council approved the plans on March 12.
McDonald's has previously said the new restaurant will provide up to 80 jobs for the area.
The new location comes after McDonald's announced it biggest expansion since 2002 with plans to open 200 new restaurants over the next four years.
Meanwhile, another town in the UK who also appears to be 'lovin' McDonald's is Basingstoke, in Hampshire, which has five restaurants all within seven miles of each other.
In October last year nutrition coach Matthew Cowell is staged a demonstrations dressed up as a doctor after the fast food giant unveiled its latest branch in Basingstoke
Pictured: Basingstoke has seen its fifth branch open up in the town which has a population of 100,000 people
In October 2024, to protest the opening of the fifth Maccies in the Hampshire town, nutrition coach Matthew Cowell staged demonstrations dressed up as a doctor outside the newest branch.
Wearing surgical scrubs and a stethoscope to make his point, Mr Cowell has questioned the opening of the newest branch at the start of the month, the second in less than six months.
'The fourth one opened in May, and that kind of caught my attention and when the fifth one was introduced so quickly after, that just made me think the town is moving in the wrong direction,' he said.
The 40-year-old went to the new McDonald's restaurant on its opening day, October 3, and handed out leaflets about preventing heart disease.
'I think you can drive around Basingstoke in about 15 minutes and you can see all five,' he said.
'It doesn't sit right with me, the manner in which we have a health crisis and at the same time we're making it harder for ourselves with this.
'There's a real lack of healthy options around here which makes it even worse.'
Mr Cowell, a lifestyle and nutrition coach, was pleasantly surprised by the reaction he got on the day.
Though he has had a mixed reaction online with one person telling him 'you look like you need a cheeseburger, you're too skinny'.
He thinks a gym, a supermarket, or 'a restaurant that at least had non processed or natural options' should have been introduced to the area rather than another McDonald's.
Mr Cowell, who sees people struggling to lose weight all the time because of his job, has suggested coming back to the McDonald's and doing a health quiz with people going to the restaurant.
'If they get the questions wrong they have to go and get lunch somewhere else,' he said.
McDonald's new £1bn announcement, made in a report marking the brand's 50th year in Britain, represents a marked increase on the £618million invested in the five years to 2023.
The rollout will test new restaurant formats, including smaller branches, and is set to create some 24,000 jobs.
The fast food chain already owns more than 1,400 UK restaurants, around 80 per cent of which are owned by franchises, employing over 170,000 Brits, making it the country's biggest private employer of young people.
MailOnline have approached McDonald's for a comment.
