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More than 600 stores still closed as KFC grapples with chicken shortages

A closed sign outside a KFC restaurant as the fast food outlet has been forced to close a raft of stores after a new delivery contract with DHL resulted in chicken shortages. Picture by Gareth Fuller/PA
A closed sign outside a KFC restaurant as the fast food outlet has been forced to close a raft of stores after a new delivery contract with DHL resulted in chicken shortages. Picture by Gareth Fuller/PA A closed sign outside a KFC restaurant as the fast food outlet has been forced to close a raft of stores after a new delivery contract with DHL resulted in chicken shortages. Picture by Gareth Fuller/PA

KFC was last night still grappling with the closure of 600 stores after a new delivery contract sparked chicken shortages.

The company released an updated list of 296 outlets that were still open as of yesterday afternoon - though KFC said earlier in the day that many were offering limited menus or had cut their hours.

It means that about two thirds of its near 900 stores were suffering from the shortage.

KFC gave no indication of when operations would be back to normal but encouraged diners to check its website in order to find the nearest open restaurant.

"We're updating this as regularly as we can, and our teams are working around the cluck to get the rest back up and running as soon as possible", KFC UK & Ireland said in its latest tweet.

The closures were the result of delayed chicken deliveries by DHL.

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

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