Traffic brought to halt by burger protest (From Stroud News and Journal)

Traffic brought to halt by burger protest

A GIANT chicken, cows, a clown and a lollipop man were among the demonstrators who took to the streets on Friday to demonstrate against plans for a McDonald's in Stroud.

The two-pronged protest had people dressed in cow suits and the burger giant's mascot Ronald McDonald repeatedly nipping across the pelican crossing opposite the proposed site.

Meanwhile drivers looped round Merrywalks, turning in and out of the Rowcroft car park to simulate the flow of traffic at the drive-thru.

Demonstrators carried banners reading 'drive-thru = traffic chaos' and lollipop sticks with a painted burger crossed out with an angry red line.

"We want to cause minimum inconvenience but we want to demonstrate that if there's a McDonald's in this particular street it will create traffic chaos," protester Jon Mayford told the News & Journal.

"In their own literature McDonald's say there will be a car at the drive-thru every 40 seconds.

"Even with a simple right turn it creates a backlog of traffic."

For more on this story and much more Five Valleys news, see this week's SNJ