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More than 36,000 people have backed a petition to bring back McDonald’s plastic straws amid backlash over “flimsy” new paper straws which customers claim dissolve in drinks.

The fast food giant is ditching plastic straws at its 1,361 UK restaurants and is rolling out paper straws amid pressure from environmentalists to be more eco-friendly.

Thousands of customers have slammed the move, branding the straws “useless” and saying: “They collapse before you’re halfway through the drink.”

The petition was launched by customer Martin Reed and continues to gain momentum.

Scores of people vented their frustration at the “flimsy” and “inadequate” straws online, with some customers even calling for a boycott of McDonald’s until the plastic ones return.

One wrote: “Paper straws make all drinks taste horrible I won’t be having any drinks from them until we get plastic ones back.”

Branding the move “crazy”, another said: “Why not allow me to choose the straw I want the same way I choose what to order?”

“You literally can’t drink out of these. I tried drinking a milkshake and it took me 3 minutes to get a tiny bit,” one said.

Responding to the backlash, a spokesman for McDonald’s told one customer on Twitter that he “can reassure you that whilst paper straws will be introduced to all restaurants, we will be working on retaining an alternative option for those that require one”.

He added: “McDonald’s introduced these to reduce our plastic waste from our restaurants, and to do our bit for the environment.”

While many slammed the straws, many jumped to the fast food giant’s defence.

One person wrote: “Absolutely loving how much everyone is starting to care about the environment, but then there are those a*******s that are signing petitions for McDonald’s to bring back plastic straws, just drink from the cup if you don’t want to use a paper straw?”

Announcing the plans for the new straws last year, Paul Pomroy, chief executive of McDonald's UK and Ireland, said: "Reflecting the broader public debate, our customers told us they wanted to see a move on straws but to do so without compromising their overall experience when visiting our restaurants.

"Over the past few months, we've been working closely with supplier partners to find a solution that works both for our customers, and that the supply is there given the size of our business.

"The Government's ambitious plans, combined with strong customer opinion, has helped to accelerate the move away from plastic and I'm proud that we've been able to play our part in helping to achieve this societal change."