‘THOUSANDS’ of bottles of milk, eggs and buns have been delivered from McDonald’s restaurants to care homes across the borough as Bury’s businesses do their bit to help the community during the coronavirus crisis.

Bakery and chocolate shop Slattery has given the council its plastic aprons and Philips High School in Whitefield has donated goggles for staff to use as protective equipment.

Council leader David Jones has praised the community spirit shown in Bury.

Simon Toft, the franchisee of the McDonald’s branches in Pilsworth Road, Whitefield and Radcliffe, donated produce following the closure of his restaurants due to the coronavirus outbreak.

He said: “The Bury community is incredibly important to us, and having taken the difficult decision to close the restaurant, we wanted to do what we could to help give back to those most in need.

“With the help of my incredible team, we delivered our fresh organic milk, free-range eggs and buns to the new community hub located at Castlefield Leisure Centre, who redistributed it to local care homes.

“I’m really pleased our produce will be put to good use and help those that are vulnerable in some way.”

The council leader said he was grateful to the franchisee for donating “thousands” of bottles of milk at a time when fresh dairy supplies have taken “a bit of a plummeting”.

The local authority is leading the effort to distribute food to care homes and schools across the borough.

Of the 45,000 school-age children in Bury, around 700 went into school last week and now the number of pupils has dropped to 404.

Cllr Jones thanked parents for complying with government guidance by not sending their children to school unless they are considered key workers.

He said: “The parents have been absolutely fantastic on school closures. The majority are being kept at home on government advice and the rest of them are children of key workers.

“It’s been remarkably refreshing to see how people have chipped in.”