In the press: Countryside Alliance condemn 'Animal Rebellion' blockade at Mcdonald's depot

At the weekend, the Countryside Alliance condemned a blockade orchestrated by an extreme animal rights group, which took place outside McDonald's distribution centres across the country.

Around 50 activists, dressed in clown costumes used trucks and bamboo structures to block lorries from leaving the depots at sites in Hemel Hempstead, Basingstoke, Coventry and Heywood and Greater Manchester.

It reportedly led to food shortages at restaurants across the country, with some branches reporting that they run out of fries, burgers and breakfast items.

Activists demanded that the fast food chain commits to becoming 'fully plant-based'.

Commenting on the scenes, a spokesman for the Alliance told Mail Online: 'Extinction Rebellion and their friends at Animal Rebellion can't get the public on side with their anti-meat crusade, so opt for these extreme stunts to get noticed.

'Preventing legitimate businesses and workers from carrying out their work in this way is simply unacceptable.

'The organisers should surely be made to pay for all damages and losses to McDonald's and to any other businesses impacted in any way by their selfish behaviour'.

Twitter users were quick to condemn the activists over the weekend, with many sharing pictures of cheese burgers purchased from McDonald's, in defiance of the group's demands.

A spokesman for McDonalds confirmed that all four sites had reopened as of Monday (24 May), and were back delivering to the company's 1,300 restaurants.

Over 23,000 farmers across the UK and Republic of Ireland supply the fast-food chain, according to Farming UK.

14 people have since been arrested in connetion with the protests.

The group behind the disruption are 'Animal Rebellion', an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion, which have subjected the public to a number of chaotic displays over recent years. In 2019, the same group attempted to shut down Smithfield Meat Market in London.