Police called to Scottish Five Guys over lack of social distancing

The Edinburgh restaurant opened for click and collect yesterday.

A Five Guys restaurant in Edinburgh has put security measures in place after police were called on Wednesday over a lack of social distancing.

The restaurant, which opened for click and collect orders yesterday, said it ‘underestimated’ the demand from customers, and was forced to stop serving at the Fountain Park outlet temporarily around 7pm.

Police were called to the scene as pictures emerged of a crowd of customers not adhering to social distancing guidelines while waiting outside the store.

People can be seen standing close to each other outside the restaurant.

One eyewitness said: “It’s surreal to see queues of this length on a normal day outside Fountain Park, never mind during a strict lockdown, it’s crazy people would endanger there lives for fast food!”

Another person shared a photo of the queues on Facebook, commenting: “Come on Five Guys Fountain Park, surely you can achieve a better standard of crowd management than this! Is this really social distancing guys?”

Several customers also took to social media to complain that their food had been delayed, with one labelling it an ‘absolute shambles’.

A crowd of people gathered outside the restaurant.

Five Guys said the restaurant has now put security measures in place and will limit the number of orders.

A spokesperson said: “Whilst social distancing practices are in place for those stores which have reopened, we underestimated the demand for orders at the Fountain Park restaurant yesterday evening.

“We now have security in place to help manage queues and to ensure customers and delivery drivers are practising social distancing.

“To ensure the safety of our customers and crew alike, we have also limited the number of orders to avoid significant queues forming and have introduced separate order areas outside of the Edinburgh stores.”

A spokesperson for Police Scotland said: "We received a report around 7.05pm on Wednesday, 22 April, 2020 that people were not adhering to distancing guidelines at a restaurant on Dundee Street, Edinburgh. Advice was given and no further action was taken."