IT has a reputation for fast-food and fast service - but very soon McDonald’s customers can experience the luxury of table service.

The fast-food chain is set to turn more than 40 years of tradition on its head by introducing table service for the first time to a restaurant in Sussex.

Big Mac fans at Brighton Marina, Churchill Square and Holmbush might have to wait a while - but regulars to the chain’s Chichester restaurant are among the first in the country to have their meals delivered to their tables.

The store in Portfield Way is due to undergo a “digital transformation” and when it reopens at the start of March, it will be the first in the county to offer table service.

Customers will order their food at a digital kiosk, take a seat and then wait for their food to be delivered by staff.

The firm has trialled the scheme at 14 restaurants across the country already including Manchester, Merseyside, London, Yorkshire and the West Midlands but Chichester will be the first in the Sussex area.

The Portfield Way branch will be among 40 getting a digital upgrade in the next couple of months with another 360 restaurants following suit by the end of the year.

The roll-out is part of a number of changes at the fast food giant including the introduction of a new “Signature Collection” to be extended to more than 60 restaurants in the next six weeks.

UK diners may be grateful that the firm currently has no plans to bring in another innovation currently being trialled out in Japan - French fries smothered in either milk or white chocolate sauce.

Paul Pomroy, McDonald’s UK chief executive officer, said: “The trial of table service in 14 restaurants in England, where customers place their order via our new digital kiosks and have their food brought to them, has proved so successful I’m delighted to announce that we will be accelerating its roll out across all our newly transformed restaurants from February onwards.”