Costa Coffee has announced it is closing all of its UK stores due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The chain announced on social media that it would be temporarily closing its doors from this evening (Monday 23 March).

In a post on Facebook, the store said it would continue to pay its team members their full average weekly wage for the next eight weeks and deliver coffee to some of the country’s key workers.

The company said in a statement: “At Costa Coffee the number one priority is the safety of our store teams and customers. As the need to support social distancing increases, we have taken the decision to temporarily close our stores this evening, Monday 23 March.

“We will do our best to keep Costa stores open in hospitals where we will continue to provide free takeaway coffee for the next two weeks to the NHS workers who are at the forefront of the crisis.

“Wherever possible, we will keep our Costa Express machines available to serve you a great cup of coffee.”

Jill McDonald, CEO of Costa Coffee, said: “I want to take this opportunity to thank our store teams, who during a lot of uncertainty over the past few weeks have continued to provide a warm and welcoming environment, and great service to our loyal customers.

“To our customers, thank you for your ongoing support – we know these are difficult and unsettling times and through our community work we hope to be able to continue serving you, and your friends and family in some way.

“I will continue to be in touch over the coming weeks and look forward to welcoming you back into our store soon.

“Thank you and take care.”

It comes after McDonald’s announced it too would be closing all of its restaurants in the UK and Ireland from tonight.

The chain previously chose to operate a takeaway and drive-thru only service in light of the Government’s advice on social distancing, but last night (22 March) it made the ‘difficult decision’ to temporarily close its UK outlets.

McDonald’s said in a statement: “We have taken the difficult decision to close all McDonald’s restaurants in the UK and Ireland by 7pm on Monday 23 March at the latest.

“This is not a decision we are taking lightly, but one made with the well-being and safety of our employees in mind as well as in the best interests of our customers.

“We will work with local community groups to responsibly distribute food and drink from our restaurants in the coming days.

“Thank you to all our brilliant employees for their hard work during this incredibly challenging time.

“We look forward to seeing you all again as soon as it is safe for us to reopen.”