The restaurant, which is on the Churchill Way retail park, has been granted permission to change its opening hours to create a 24-hour drive-through at weekends - but bosses say no changes will be made in the 'foreseeable' future.

Franchisee Nigel Dunnington, who operates five fast food restaurants around the area, launched a similar scheme at his Capitol Centre branch in Walton-le-Dale last weekend and he wants to see if it is a success before rolling out the plans in Leyland.

He said: "We just brought in the changes at the Capitol Centre at the weekend and we are really pleased with how it is going, but there's still a long way to go.

"We had a lot of traffic from people coming from the cinema, taxi drivers, and the like, but we'll have to see how it gathers momentum over the coming months.

"In terms of Leyland, it is a totally different restaurant because unlike the Capitol Centre, it is in a residential area and if we do go ahead we'll have to tread much more respectfully.

"Before we do anything we'll certainly be getting on board with the local residents to let them know what's going on."

McDonald's currently opens from 6.30am to 11.30pm every day. The changes mean they can now serve food around the clock on Saturday and Sundays and until midnight throughout the week.

Earlier this year, residents hit out at the plans amid claims the move would trigger a flurry of similar applications and exacerbate problems with late night nuisance and litter.

Manager Rachel Hilliker said every effort to reduce noise and disturbance will be made if the plans are implemented.

She said: "It is great that the option is there but from a management point of view we are still some way from making any changes.

"Right now we don't have the staff to be able to open 24 hours but we are currently recruiting, so the situation could change in the future."

South Ribble Council's planning department approved the plans on September 4 but the scheme is still be subject to approval from the council's licensing department.

A spokesman for the council's licensing department said an application has not formally been submitted.