Burger King have launched a bid to become the first fast food chain to sell alcohol in its UK restaurants.

The restaurant chain wants to sell plastic bottles of American beer to be drunk on the premises from this month.

It has applied for drinks licences at four UK branches - Newcastle-under-Lyme, Blackpool, Hull and Bury St Edmunds - from 10am to 11pm seven days a week.

Burger King have applied for a licence to sell alcohol with their food. If the licence is granted they would become the first UK fast food restaurant to serve booze

If the licence is granted Burger King could apply for more licences nationwide.

A spokeswoman for the company in Britain said: 'We're just catching up with the rest of the world really.'

Meanwhile, rivals McDonald's said serving alcoholic drinks was not something customers had asked for.

A message on the fast food restaurant read: 'We develop our menu based on what our customers tell us they like and want from a visit to McDonald's.

'Although a number of European McDonald's markets serve alcoholic beverages as part of their menu, this is not something that we have experienced customer demand for or something that fits with the family-friendly focus of our restaurants in the UK.'