IT'S AFTER lunch, but the queue at McDonald's in Poole High Street still trails back to the automatic doors.

Few tables are spare - most are filled by groups of teenagers, stretching out their drinks to avoid heading back into the cold January afternoon, and parents sharing chips with young children.

The branch is so busy that even cups for soft drinks are running low.

It's the first sign that things are not all they seem for this apparently flourishing franchise.

But there are more clues everywhere - this late stream of visitors, the fact that toys for Happy Meals have run out altogether, and, on one partition between tables, two A4 signs which read: "Restaurant closure: this restaurant will be closing permanently on Sunday, January 8 2017."

Customers are baffled by the news, which was reported in the Daily Echo on Saturday.

"I don't understand it at all," Poole grandmother Elaine George said.

"You'd think that if any business was safe, it'd be McDonald's.

"It always seems so busy."

Others see it as a bad sign for the High Street.

McDonald's has been trading here for 36 years - and it will close just weeks after a big name rival firm also shut its doors.

One mum treating her children to a late lunch said: "It's happening so soon after Burger King.

"The whole High Street seems like it's on the way out.

"There's nothing here but charity shops any more."

Hard-working staff are clear on the reason behind the closure - the branch simply isn't making enough money for bosses to invest in modernisation.

One server said McDonald's wants "big, modern" restaurants complete with cutting-edge technology.

In some branches already, including nearby Boscombe, customers can have their food brought to their tables after ordering on tablet computers.

It's part of a nationwide commitment by franchisees to 'evolve' the chain.

However, this wasn't on the cards in Poole.

The cost of leasing the huge building in the High Street was also prohibitive.

"The rent's really high here too," the server said. "It's made it difficult."

Customers will now have to travel to the Wessex Gate drive-thru some two-and-a-half miles away.

A spokesperson for McDonald’s said: "The decision to close the restaurant is not one that has been taken lightly.

“We continue to have a strong offering in the town, with three other restaurants in Poole, and remain committed to the Dorset area.”