KFC branches all over Swindon have been affected by a chicken shortage.

The Swindon Designer Outlet and the Delta Park restaurants have closed temporarily and the Greenbridge KFC has a limited menu after the fast food chain's new delivery contract with DHL lead to chicken shortages across the country.

The shutters were down over the Designer Outlet's restaurant in the Food Quarter and the drive-thru at the Delta Park restaurant was coned off.

On-the-bone chicken is still available at Greenbridge but anyone hoping for mini fillets or popcorn chicken is out of cluck.

Only 169 of its 900 branches nationwide are currently open.

The company gave no notice of when operations would be back to normal.

In a statement, KFC said: "We've brought a new delivery partner onboard, but they've had a couple of teething problems - getting fresh chicken out to 900 restaurants across the country is pretty complex!

"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.

 “We’ve set up a page on our website – www.kfc.co.uk/crossed-the-road – so our fans can check where their nearest open restaurant is, and we’re updating this as regularly as we can.

KFC was previously a client of Bidvest Logistics but has since swapped contract to enlist DHL for food deliveries.

The chicken chain said that its restaurant's teams were "working flat out to get us back up and running again".

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

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

DHL announced in November that it had been appointed alongside QSL to manage the supply and distribution of food products and packaging for more than 850 KFC restaurants throughout the UK.

It said DHL would manage the physical warehouse and distribution service, with KFC adding that it had specifically chosen the pair for their reputation of "innovation in logistics" across other industries.