WORK has started on the site of Royston’s new McDonald’s restaurant, which is set to open in June.

Contractors moved in earlier this month to begin preparing the land, adjacent to the Little Chef restaurant on Baldock Road near the A505 roundabout.

A spokesman for the fast food chain said construction would get underway in the next couple of weeks.

He said: “We expect to open the new McDonald’s restaurant in June and we are currently preparing the site for construction which is due to start in mid-April.”

The news was welcomed by the Mayor of Royston, Cllr Lindsay Davidson.

She said: “A lot of people don’t like McDonald’s, and I often get shot down for saying this, but I’m really pleased they are coming to Royston, investing in the town, and providing jobs for people in the area.”

Planning permission was granted for the site last year for an 80-seat restaurant with drive-through. McDonald’s said they expect it will create 30 full-time and 35 part-time jobs.

Cllr Davidson, who co-ordinates Royston councillors’ school visits programme, said the news is likely to be welcomed by younger residents.

She said: “It’s one of the things that has always come up every year since we’ve been doing the school visits.

“Children always say they want a McDonald’s or Burger King, so I expect there will be a lot of people who are pleased to hear this news.

“It’s out of town so hopefully it won’t have too much of an effect on trade for the takeaways.”

Some traders were opposed to the arrival of McDonald’s when it was first mooted last year.

Bayram Pelit, director at the Master Fryer in Angel Pavement, told the Crow: “I don’t think it will be nice for Royston because we already have too many takeaways here and it is hard to do good trade. They will put all of the takeaways at risk.”

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