A government minister says fast food drive-thrus did not have to close during lockdown and believes they can safely reopen by adhering to social distancing rules.

Food Secretary George Eustice says the likes of McDonald's and KFC were never ordered to shut.

Speaking at yesterday's Downing Street press briefing, he said the national chains took the decision themselves as the government never "explicitly mandated their closure".

He believes the drive-thrus are "made for the social distancing situation we are in" and says it is "quite possible" for them to reopen.

A handful of KFC drive-thrus have already reopened in Kent, but McDonald's and Burger King are yet to reopen any county branches for everyday motorists.

Strict social distancing measures are in place at the fast food restaurants which are operating and customers are advised to use the preferred method of delivery.

Mr Eustice said: "I have had a number of discussions with some of the food to go outlets.

"When we originally did the lockdown we were quite explicit that it didn’t cover takeaway food.

"While clearly restaurants and pubs had to close, we were quite keen to keep the capacity to be able to do takeaway food for people and that was clear in the guidance."

However, fast food firms still decided to shut up shop in a bid to slow Covid-19 infection rates.

"I think there are a number of reasons why these companies took a decision themselves of their own volition to close.

"They had issues with anxiety among their staff and also a sense that given the strength of the overarching message people should stay at home, they felt there was maybe a sense it wasn’t socially acceptable to stay open - even though the government hadn’t explicitly mandated their closure."

The minister added: "Our view is probably a McDonald’s drive-thru is made for the social distancing situation that we are in.

"People do not leave their car, they place their order and somebody passes a bag of food to them through a kiosk."

Mr Eustice's comments come as the nationwide lockdown is expected to be slightly eased following Boris Johnson's address to the nation tomorrow evening.

Head to our business page for all of the latest news about businesses in Kent.

Read more: All the latest news from Kent