KFC’S chicken delivery meltdown could be costing the chain £1million a day.

Around 700 of its 870 UK stores were forced to shut after a catastrophic failure at KFC’s new delivery firm DHL left them without chicken.

8 KFC is likely to lose millions after new delivery firm DHL left the fast-food chain without chicken Credit: Martin Dalton

The shambles means zero-hour contract staff may lose pay while stores stay shut. One insider warned:

“It’s not going to get better quickly. It won’t be days, it may be weeks.”

KFC’S chicken delivery meltdown could be costing the chain £1million a day.

Have you got a story about KFC? How are you coping without it? Email exclusive@the-sun.co.uk or call The Sun on 020 7782 4103

Around 700 of its 870 UK stores have been forced to shut after a catastrophic failure at KFC’s new delivery firm DHL left them without chicken.

And one source said it could be weeks rather than days before supplies are back to normal — adding:

“It’s an absolute shambles.”

8 Disgruntled Colonel customers in Hampton Hill in Twickenham Credit: Dan Charity - The Sun

Customers who found outlets closed were equally furious. Matt Patel, 20, in Chelmsford, Essex, said:

“It’s insane that Kentucky Fried Chicken has run out of chicken. It’s literally in their name.”

Yao Barima, turned away from a KFC drive- through in Byker, Newcastle, said: “I am in complete shock.

“Are they joking? KFC running out of chicken certainly sounds like a joke.”

It is believed the crisis began on Wednesday — the day DHL took over delivery duties — triggered by an accident that shut the M6 and caused traffic gridlock.

An insider said: “Some DHL lorries were sat in traffic for hours and it kick-started a huge backlog of deliveries.

8 In Rugby there are a sea of trays of wasted chicken at the DHL depot

“They couldn’t get enough drivers together to clear the backlog then in the chaos trucks were delivering wrong stock or out-of-date stock which had to be sent back.

“It’s a logistical nightmare for DHL. They just didn’t have the set-up to deal with it.”

The DHL depot at Rugby, Warwicks, was yesterday described as “total mayhem” — with pictures showing thousands of trays of chicken waiting to be loaded on lorries.

The shortage started to bite at KFC outlets on Friday. It worsened over the weekend and by yesterday the system had collapsed completely.

8 KFC requires three deliveries of chicken a week in order to keep stores stocked Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd

KFC stores are usually franchises, with many of the 25,000 staff on zero-hours contracts.

Yesterday some said they had been left with no income while stores stayed closed. Others claimed they had been told “take a holiday”.

One North London worker said: “KFC said full-time staff will be paid and those on short-term contracts will have their pay averaged out.

“But most people who work at franchises like mine are on zero-hours contracts — we don’t have proper jobs.

8 Around 700 of its 870 UK stores have been forced to shut Credit: Doug Seeburg - The Sun

“We haven’t had any work since the delivery issue first came to light at the end of last week and it’s tough because we have bills to pay.

“Most KFC staff will be in a similar boat.”

A single mum at an Uxbridge store said: “I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.”

Footage uploaded online yesterday apparently showed KFC workers smuggling chicken they had obtained themselves into a store in Erith, Kent, through a fire door — in an attempt to keep it trading.

8 Around 400,000 chickens are used every week in KFCs, which is three per cent of the UK flock Credit: Alamy

Some staff said it had been apparent for weeks there were going to be problems with German-based DHL taking over from KFC’s previous distribution firm, South African operator Bidvest.

One added: “Managers and franchise owners were all aware DHL did not have the infrastructure to deliver but went ahead anyway.”

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One worker claimed employees had been asked to go to DHL’s depot to help load lorries. The worker said: “We have basically been asked to do DHL’s job for them.”

Another said: “We haven’t been given a proper update from the company, just what trickles down from managers.”

8 Many KFCs are franchises and many of the 25,000 staff have zero-hours contracts Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd

The Colonel is working on it. pic.twitter.com/VvvnDLvlyq — KFC UK & Ireland (@KFC_UKI) February 17, 2018

Delivery drivers said their usual 40-minute waits had gone up to 4½ hours. One said: “I’ve been a delivery driver for 40 years and I’ve never seen anything like it.

“It won’t be sorted in days, it’s going to take weeks.”

Sources said KFC may seek up to £30million in compensation from DHL. Business experts said KFC should have phased in the new delivery system to minimise disruption.

Greg Lawless, of Shore Capital, said: “Reports suggest that KFC switched from Bidvest to DHL in one go.

Cash Bone-Us By Andy Jehring HOPEFULS aiming to set up a KFC franchise must have good hospitality experience and £1million to £2million in assets to invest. This investment will cover the cost of the building as well as start-up inventory, licences, training expenses and application fees. Once approved by the KFC dev­elopment team, the franchisee pays a six per cent royalty of sales to the firm and an advertising contribution of five per cent of sales. They also pay a £31,000 initial licence fee. This means that on a typical franchise which turns over be­t­ween £1million and £1.5million, KFC receives £141,000 to £196,000 in its first year. Thereafter it will get between £110,000 and £165,000 a year from each franchise.

“They should have had a phased approach to iron out the issues first. Delivering daily to each restaurant is complex but it isn’t that hard.”

KFC’s internal communications manager Claire Gibson yesterday urged staff to keep quiet about the shambles.

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8 Sources say that KFC may seek up to £30m in compensation from DHL Credit: Alamy

She wrote in a message: “It’s great the public care so much about our chicken but while we are doing our best to sort out everything that is going on we ask that you do not speak with any media.”

KFC yesterday denied the shortages were caused by out-of-date chicken.

It said: “Although initially triggered by start-up problems in moving to our new delivery partner, due to the complexity of our supply chain we’ve seen a knock-on effect which has led to the disruption.”