KFC stores in Chester and Cheshire Oaks are now open for business again – following a five-day closure after the chain ran out of chicken.

The fried chicken outlet was forced to shut hundreds of its stores across the UK after experiencing operational problems when they switched their delivery contract from Bidvest Logisitics to DHL – resulting in a nationwide chicken shortage which began last Thursday (February 15).

A sign in the window of KFC on Chester’s Greyhound Retail Park on Monday (February 19) said the store had been experiencing ‘a few hiccups’.

“We deliver our chicken fresh into our restaurants but we’ve had a few hiccups with the delivery today,” the sign read. “We wouldn’t want to open without offering our full menu, but we’ll be back at the fryers as soon as we can. Apologies for any inconvience.”

Sign displayed at KFC Chester on the Greyhound Retail Park

However, just one day later the Chester store was open again and serving chicken, although a different sign in the window said they were offering a ‘limited menu’.

When The Chronicle asked staff to comment on the situation they declined, but an email from Colonel’s Club sent to registered customers explained that getting fresh chicken out to 900 restaurants across the country had been ‘pretty complex’, and hundreds of KFC outlets across the country remain closed.

“We’ve brought a new delivery partner on board, but they’ve had a couple of teething problems – getting fresh chicken out to 900 restaurants across the country is pretty complex,” the email said.

“We won’t compromise on quality, so no deliveries has meant some of our restaurants are closed, and others are operating a limited menu, or shortened hours.

“We know that this might have inconvenienced some of you over the last few days, and disappointed you when you wanted your fried chicken fix - we’re really sorry about that.

“Shout out to our restaurant teams who worked flat out to get us back up and running again."