Osborne defends his 'posh' Byron burger Twitter picture saying 'McDonald's don't deliver'

Mr Osborne tweeted a picture of himself eating the burger, from upmarket chain Byron

Chancellor George Osborne has defended his late-night delivery of takeaway food after he was pictured eating a £10 burger.

Click here or 'view gallery' to see world's politicians eating junk food

Mr Osborne tweeted a picture of himself eating the burger, from upmarket chain Byron, as he put the final touches to his spending review which saw £11.5 billion worth of cuts.

The Chancellor, who admitted he was "partial to a quarter-pounder with cheese", told ITV's Daybreak programme: "Well, McDonald's doesn't deliver. I was working late in the office."

A "Classic" Byron 6oz hamburger with lettuce, tomato, red onion and mayonnaise costs £6.75, with fries an extra £2.95. If cheese is added, the price of the burger rises to £7.95.

Byron burgers confirmed today that they don't deliver either as Mr Osborne was accused of being out of touch by users of the micro-blogging site Twitter.

Today Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg revealed he is also a fan of Byron burgers, praising their Oreo milkshakes during his weekly radio phone-in on London's LBC radio station.

Mr Osborne tweeted the picture of the meal, along with cans of Diet Coke and a coffee, at around 10pm on Tuesday with the message: "Putting final touches to the speech."

He said Twitter posed problems for politicians who wanted to give a greater insight into their work.

He told Daybreak: "As a politician you've got this dilemma, which is the only thing people see of you is you're in the House of Commons, in a TV studio.

"The point about Twitter is to try and tell people more about what you're doing every day, and there I am working late on my speech, and I've got a takeaway hamburger, but it puts you on the front page of the Sun. It's an occupational hazard."

The Sun newspaper printed a front page featuring the picture above the headline 'Shamburger'.

He said: "What do you turn to when you're a bit miserable? Stuff that isn't super-healthy. A hamburger is the ultimate comfort food."

Mr Clegg said this morning that he had one of the burgers after seeing a film with his children at a cinema in Fulham Broadway in London.

"Very near there, there is a burger place - a fancy burger place called Byron," he said. "It was actually quite a fancy burger, I have to say."

He went on to extol the qualities of the Byron milkshakes.

"Can I strongly recommend - I'm allowed to do this, this is not commercial advertising - the Oreo milkshakes at Byron's. They are something else," he said.

"That is actually the reason we went. It wasn't for the burgers, it was my kids saying 'We want the Oreo milkshakes'."

Further reading:

Let Osborne enjoy his 'posh' burger

Now that would be a weird meal for George