Locals react to plans for new McDonald’s restaurant in town near Bristol

Locals have reacted to the news that a former bank in a town near Bristol could become a new McDonald’s restaurant.

A planning application has been submitted to turn the old NatWest bank in Nailsea’s Somerset Square into a branch of the fast food chain - a first for the North Somerset town.

The bank in the Crown Glass Shopping Centre closed in the summer of 2019 and the site has been boarded up ever since.

Plans for the new McDonald’s have been submitted for units 21 and 22 of Somerset Square.

The news has attracted a mixed response from locals on social media.

One Nailsea resident said: “It’ll be somewhere warm and safe for the youngsters to hang out in the evenings - there’s nowhere currently.”

Another resident said: “I’m not a big fan of McDonald’s but it will be great for many that do like it, plus it’s a treat for children and bringing extra jobs to Nailsea.”

But one unhappy local added: “I feel sorry for the people who live in the vicinity. The constant smell of old cooking oil and even more rubbish that doesn’t get put in the rubbish bins.”

The closest McDonald’s to Nailsea at the moment is the drive-thru branch at Wyndham Way Retail Park in Portishead.