MCDONALD’S Monopoly has been delayed until later this year because of coronavirus.

The fast food chain said it was pushing the game back until it is "confident that you can win, claim and redeem the prizes available".

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2 McDonald's Monopoly won't be back next week as planned Credit: Alamy

McDonald's Monopoly sees the fast food chain give away thousands of prizes with some of the biggest wins being cars and holidays.

While it had yet to officially announce its full list of prizes for the 2020 run, travel for Brits has been thrown into chaos due to the spread of coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) is now advising against all but essential international travel, while cases of the killer virus in the UK have jumped to 1,950 with 71 deaths recorded at the time of writing.

McDonald's Monopoly was due to start again next week, on March 25 - a new date for the official launch has yet to be confirmed by the restaurant chain.

We have made the difficult decision to delay the Monopoly promotion until later in the year until we can be confident that you can win, claim and redeem the prizes available. — McDonald's UK (@McDonaldsUK) March 17, 2020

In a tweet last night, McDonald's said: "We have made the difficult decision to delay the Monopoly promotion until later in the year until we can be confident that you can win, claim and redeem the prizes available."

It comes as McDonald's announced all its restaurants in the UK and Ireland would only be open for takeaway and drive-thru orders only from today, March 18.

Toilets and handwashing facilities will remain open wherever possible but seating areas and children’s play areas would all be closed.

Customers will also still be able to order food from home via "contact free" delivery with Uber Eats and Just Eat.

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McDonald’s UK CEO Paul Pomroy said: “Our restaurants will remain open for as long as it is safe to do so.

“In the last 24 hours it has become clear that we need to temporarily change our operations to ensure the well-being of our employees and customers consistent with the governments’ guidance on social distancing.

“Therefore from 5am tomorrow morning all restaurants will close seating areas and temporarily move to being takeaway, Drive Thru and McDelivery only.”

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McDonald’s has announced plans to give NHS, council and emergency service staff free drinks to say thanks during coronavirus crisis.

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