McDonald’s is to serve up 80 new jobs in Kent.

The global supplier of Big Macs and other fast food said today the Kent jobs would be among 2,500 new people needed across the UK over the next 12 months.

They will join the existing workforce of 90,000.

Nearly a third of the jobs will go to people taking on their first job, with more than half of the jobs expected to go to people under the age of 25.

McDonald’s has created 13,500 new jobs over the last three years, fuelled by new restaurants, longer opening hours, facelifts to existing outlets, new technology such as Wi-Fi and Contactless payments, and new menus.

McDonald’s, which is spearheading the Olympic volunteers training programme, has awarded almost 35,000 qualifications from Maths and English certificates to Foundation Degrees in the past five years.

McDonald’s said there would be further investment and opportunities in its supply chain, benefitting a range of industries including agriculture.