KFC Closes 800 Locations After Delivery Error Causes Chicken Shortage

Popular fast food chain KFC temporarily closed hundreds of its locations in the United Kingdom after a delivery issue sparked a shortage of the restaurant’s signature chicken recipe.

KFC announced it had shut down about 800 of its 900 chains across Britain Monday afternoon. Customers looking for the famed chicken discovered signs on many restaurant doors that read "sorry, were closed.”

"We won’t compromise on quality, so no deliveries has meant some of our restaurants are closed, and others are operating a limited menu, or shortened hours," the company said in a statement.

KFC reportedly made the switch from South African-owned Bidvest Logistics to DHL last Wednesday. The logistics giant cited a "couple of teething problems," for the disturbance, BBC News reported.

"Our teams are working flat out all hours to get the rest back up and running as soon as possible - but it's too early to say how long it will take to clear the backlog," KFC’s statement continued.

KFC said it planned to rectify the issue as quickly as possible. DHL revealed that shipments had been "incomplete or delayed" due to "operational issues."

Customers searching for an open KFC could locate one thanks to a company website that listed outlets unaffected by the delivery error. Many were caught off guard by the chicken drought.

"We went on Saturday night to our local KFC in Luton and queued for about 20 minutes in the drive-thru, about 15 cars in the queue, and when we got to the actual counter and asked for our standard family bucket, we were told there was no chicken," a customer, identified as Claire told BBC.

Meanwhile, franchisees are responsible for 95 percent of KFC's outlets in the U.K., CNN reported. The company encouraged its employees to take the day off while it worked to solve the problem.