Several police officers were called to a McDonald's drive-thru at lunchtime today after drivers began queuing dangerously on a dual carriageway.

There have been numerous traffic-related issues at the Garston McDonald's drive-thru since it reopened earlier this month.

Drone footage showed the number of vehicles queuing soon after it reopened - St Albans Road in Garston became so gridlocked, a decision was made to close one of the entrances.

Problems continued day after day but according to Councillor Stephen Giles-Medhurst, the situation had calmed down considerably this week, with McDonald's staff patrolling the entrance on the A405 and moving drivers on if it got too busy.

But he says he "couldn't believe his eyes" when he cycled past the branch at lunchtime today.

Watford Observer:

This was the scene on the A405 at around 1pm today. The McDonald's drive-thru entrance is further up on the left. Credit: Cllr Giles-Medhurst

He said: "When I cycled past I couldn't believe what I saw. McDonald's staff were being ignored. 

"Cars were queuing round to St Albans Road. And it is just not sensible to join a queue on a dual carriageway.

"I'm glad the police responded quickly and sorted the traffic out. But Mcdonald's need to more - police can't be there 24/7.

"It had calmed down at McDonald's this week but there were police officers on site. As soon as the police turned up, officers told traffic to move on and it did clear."

Watford Observer:

Although officers dealt with the issues today, Hertfordshire Constabulary says solving this ongoing problem is not their responsibility.

A spokeswoman said: "Police are aware of continuing traffic issues in the vicinity of the McDonald’s drive thru in Garston.

"Traffic management is the not the responsibility of the police.

"However, we are liaising with the local highways authority and the restaurant itself to ensure these issues are resolved as soon as possible, in the interests of maintaining the safety of all road users."

Watford Observer:

This was a view of McDonald's in Garston when it reopened a couple of weeks ago. Credit: The Drone Photo Company

Watford Observer:

This was the A405 a couple of weeks ago as drivers queued to get into the drive-thru

McDonald's said last week: "With restaurant teams adjusting to new procedures to enable safe working and social distancing, things may take a little longer in our newly opened restaurants, and demand has already been very high.

"In line with our opening plans, we have been working closely with the police and highways authorities to help prevent disruption.

"We have reconfigured the direction of traffic through our site to improve the flow of cars, while there have still seen some queues at peak times, there has been a significant improvement."

McDonald's plans to reopen all of its restaurants in June - currently the drive-thrus in Bushey and North Watford are open locally alongside Garston.