McDonald's serves more customers

The fast-food giant McDonald's said it saw its busiest weekend on record in the UK last month as cost-conscious families searched for cheap deals.

The US-headquartered group notched up its 20th consecutive quarter of growth in the UK over the three months up to March as it served 25 million more customers than the same period last year.

McDonald's said the last weekend of March was its best yet in the UK, with 12 million customers dining under the golden arches.

News of the record UK performance came as the wider group reported an 11 per cent rise in net income to $1.2bn (£724m) in the quarter. McDonald's said global revenues increased 9 per cent to $6.1bn, while sales in Europe rose 5.7 per cent.