After the chain arrived in France in the 1970s, commentators said it would have difficulty catching on because the French would be reluctant to eat with their hands, said Franck Pinay-Rabaroust, editor of the online gastronomy magazine Atabula.

“Now McDonald’s sees that it can expand by catering to the French preference for sit-down meals with cutlery,” he said.

“They know the French still think eating with your hands is not chic.”

Initially viewed by gourmets as an affront to Gallic gastronomy, burgers have swept France in recent years.

They are now on the menus of three-quarters of the country’s 145,000 restaurants and sales are estimated at about £8.3 billion a year, according to the food marketing group Gira Conseil.

About 80 per cent of restaurants offering burgers say they have replaced the traditional “steak-frites” as the most popular item.

A recent study found that the French consume an average of more than 15 burgers each per year - an increase of about 50 per cent since 2012.