THE grand opening of the McDonald's restaurant in Petersfield has been put back to early May due to bad weather which has delayed construction.

Spokesperson for the fast food chain, Allison Purves, said they were working towards an opening date of Saturday, May 5.

She said: "We have had to fight against the bad weather in the past few months and have been forced to pump water off the land.

"Now we have a date in mind and we are trying to make sure that the restaurant will be ready. But this is not definite."

Eight giant pieces of the restaurant building were expected to be lowered on to the site, south of Buckmore Farm, this week. The site is also the proposed location for an 84-bedroom hotel, filling station and restaurant.