Roadchef motorway deal for McDonald's

The fast-food giant McDonald's has signed its first deal with a national service-station operator, and will open 10 new restaurants on Britain's motorways over the next two years.

McDonald's UK unveiled its partnership with Roadchef as it reported that its UK like-for-like sales in the third quarter had grown by more than the 4.1 per cent achieved in Europe as a whole, and the 5.3 per cent growth reported in the US.

Jill McDonald, the newly-appointed chief executive of McDonald's UK, said it would also step up its own restaurant openings, with four new drive-throughs coming in December.

Third-quarter UK growth was driven by its busiest month on record in August. Ms McDonald said the chain's premium menu was particularly popular. It also sold nine million more cups of its full-bean coffee this year, bringing its total for 2010 to 69 million. Ms McDonald said: "We sell more coffee in the UK than Starbucks and Costa Coffee combined."