A banner displaying pictures of animals – some in a pool of blood – alongside a message which reads “You buy they die…Go vegan for animals” is being held up outside the new fast food joint by the animal rights campaigners, who set up position at about 11am, on the former site of Yates’s pub in the High Street.
Five Guys says it prides itself on making the “best burger”, through using fresh and locally sourced food – none of its 58 UK restaurants have freezers or microwaves.
One protester, Robert Platt, could be heard speaking through a megaphone saying: “You don’t need to eat meat to be healthy, you don’t need to eat meat to get your protein” while other campaigners hand out leaflets to passers by.
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Five Guys opened its first Croydon branch on MondayMr Platt, a hospital worker from Croydon, added: “We are here to protest against the opening of this Five Guys in Croydon. Because they are the meat industry we want to try and educate people and send a strong message out that the meat industry is causing a lot of harm and a lot of cruelty.
“We are here to save animals, but the meat industry is also harming human health and damaging the planet as well so there are so many reasons to protest.”
Pointing to the Five Guys sign, Mr Platt added: “It is really quite upsetting that this really big shop has opened in Croydon and they are selling all this meat.
“People say we should go to McDonald’s and we do – we go to all places.”
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The Metropolitan Police say they are aware of the ‘peaceful protest’ outside Five GuyAnother protester, Lesley Dove, 52, from Hampton in Richmond, said: “We’ve had a mixed response but we’ve had some people coming up for a leaflets.
“One or two people who gave bad feedback but a lot of people have been agreeing it’s bad. I think the images on the poster really do help I think it’s important to show the actual pictures.”
A number of police officers have been spotted at the peaceful protest, and a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said they were aware of the protest.
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Despite the protest, customers have been queuing up to sample Five GuysFive Guys was founded in 1986 in Arlington, Virginia, by couple Janie and Jerry Murrell. The name Five Guys refers to the couple’s five sons.
The chain first expanded to the UK in 2013 and now has more than 1,000 restaurants worldwide – including 58 in Britain.
The new 209-seater restaurant will bring 42 new jobs to the borough.
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